The Insanity Continues
by Kuragari1024
Summary: Sequel to "One Crazy Life". Kurai's insane adventures continue; with some old characters and some new ones. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer-I don't own Alien or Predator, but my characters and story belong to ME!**

**Okay, you wanted it, you got it! As promised, THE SUPER-CRAZY SEQUEL TO OCL!**

Chapter I

It had been nearly a week since Kurai had fought and killed Zazin, and things had gone, more or less, back to normal. Mating season had started, and the female clan would arrive the next day. Kura had been allowed to leave the medical bay, but was still confined to her room, as her concussion was worrying to everyone, especially Ko, who fussed over her constantly. She found it kind of cute that the enormous Yautja always wanted to be near her.

Kantra, on the other hand, didn't find anything endearing about Kurai's stay in the medical bay. He made his position very clear on the third day of her stay there. He came into her room on that day and saw that she was still in bed.

"What the pauk are you doing, Ooman? Your kiande amedha chiva is in less than two months! You should be training, not lying around in bed! Do you think that the kiande amedha will wait until you are healed to resume their attacks?" Ko intervened.

"Now, wait one minute! She just took care of a Bad Blood that was trying to rape and kill her; she deserves a little rest from her injuries!"

"A day is rest; three is just being lazy! Taki is always here with you, and he is the one who needs more training! If you're going to spend time In bed, at least try to research weapons or something!" with this, he left, muttering about laziness.

"You know, he's right." Kurai said. "The healers did say that I could leave yesterday; you're the one keeping me here, Ko." Her large friend gave an innocent look.

"You're injured; you need to rest." He told her. He hadn't been angry that they couldn't go on their date yet, but he was still looking forward to it. Kurai fully intended on keeping her word and going out with him as soon as this she could get up and walk around without half the ship telling her to take it easy.

Ever since word had gotten around that Kurai had killed Zazin, she was being haled as a sort of hero; the families of the two guards he had killed in his escape had come to the ship and thanked her personally for avenging their family members' deaths. Arbitrator Ya'Muri had, before she had left, told Kurai that, if she was willing to work hard enough, she would make a fine Arbitrator some day. Zazin's mother had called her on the communications screen the day after the fight to inform her that she had spread her son's ashes in his favorite part of the forest of the homeworld. Kurai had to feel bad for her; losing her son like that, it couldn't be easy for a mother.

Now Kurai had decided that, despite Ko's protests, that she would get up and go try and train a little. Kantra was pleased to hear this news, while Ko was nervous.

"You should rest, Kurai! We can reschedule your chiva!" he protested. Kurai shook her head, her long hair rippling.

"No. I won't put this off, Ko! I left my home and entered an entirely new life to join this clan, and I'll take my chiva on time with everyone else. I don't care if I have to train for eighteen hours every day; I won't put this off!" with this, she got out of bed and went to her closet and got some clothes, then went into her bathroom to get dressed.

"But what if you faint? Or what if your stitches come out? I don't want you to get hurt anymore!" Ko called through the bathroom door.

"I won't get hurt; this is training…just chill, all right?"

"I can't "chill", Kurai, with the thought of you ending up in the medical bay again. i…I care for you, and I'm still looking forward to our…what did you call it? Our date."

"We will go on a date, and soon, too; I just need to remind everyone that I'm not some delicate Ooman invalid. Anyway, it's mating season and the female clan comes tomorrow; just…I don't know…find a female to…occupy your time…until then."

"There are three reasons why I won't do that. One, I don't want another female, just you. Two, I don't know if a female would approve of my trophies yet. And three, I…I've never…been…with a female."

"Whoa, whoa, hold on a minute…Ko, are you saying that you're a virgin?"

"Well…yes."

"You're joking!"

"No! No female has ever allowed me to…enter paradise. Why does this surprise you? I told you about how picky our females are; I'm a fairly typical case, actually."

"Holy shit! You're like what? Three times older than I am? Even Taki's not a virgin!

"And what about you?"

"EXCUSE ME?"

"Are you a virgin?"

"WHAT THE FUCK MAN! YOU DON'T ASK A FEMALE THAT!"

"I just wanted to know if I'm going to be my first's first."

"First, what makes you think I'm going to be your first? Second, why does it matter? I've been reading up on Yautja culture and a female doesn't have any obligation to reveal her sexual history to a male!" with this, she finished putting on her clothes and opened the door to reveal Ko, standing in the middle of the room, looking nervous.

"Are you going to the kehrite? I'll come with you, if you want." He said, obviously trying to change the subject. Kurai, who was getting uncomfortable, took the hint.

"Yes, I'm going to go train a little." With this, she took off down the hall. Taki was off somewhere with a few of the warriors, and Kurai hoped that he wasn't teaching Kantra any more Japanese drinking games. The last one had ended with Kantra and Taki on the floor of the kehrite, singing old battle ballads and seeing their ancestors. Kurai had given Taki hell over this; mainly due to the fact that her friend wasn't allowed to drink yet, in either species.

When she got there, she saw that Dto was already in the training room, practicing with his combi-stick. Ko excused himself for a moment to go get his own combi-stick. Dto looked up as Kurai entered.

"Oh, Kurai! Elder Yeyinde wanted me to inform you that your medical appointment with the female healers will take place the day after tomorrow. He's contacted the female clan and they've agreed to have one of their healers examine you. And you can probably make some friends, besides this bunch of dirty warriors!" he said this last part as a joke.

"Yeah, who knows? What clan is coming anyway? I've researched about fifty of them and it might be one I recognize."

"Oh, it's one called…Blue Leaf…I believe."

Kurai gasped; the Blue Leaf? That was Ko's maternal clan!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer-Don't own it.

Chapter II

They heard the sound of something hitting the floor and turned to see Ko. He was looking at them with a mix of both horror and disbelief.

"Wh-what did you say? The Blue Leaf Clan?" he whispered.

"Yes, the Blue Leaf. I suppose you'll have to go elsewhere to find a female; unless…you're into that sort of thing?"Dto said jokingly. Ko wasn't amused.

"Kurai, I need to see you outside, NOW!" he said, pulling Kurai by the arm.

"Fine, I was about to suggest the same thing." She said.

The two went out into the corridor and Kurai turned to face Ko. He leaned against the wall and put his head in one hand. "What's wrong?' Kurai asked.

"I haven't seen my maternal clan in nearly thirty Ooman years. Like I told you; they weren't exactly solemn when I left. I don't know what I'll do while their here, Kurai!" He sounded so confused.

"You don't have to worry, Ko; they can't do anything to you. You're an adult in a hunting clan, it's not like you're a little kid anymore. And if they say anything, fuck em'! You don't owe them a god damned thing anymore!" Kurai said.

_**Ko listened to all this, and for the first time in his life, realized that Kurai was right. So what if they said anything? It wasn't like he was still a helpless pup living on whatever they decided to allow him, no; he was a Blooded warrior! He had trophies, and honor, and two friends who would stand beside him. He'd spoken with kiande amedha, witnessed a Bad Blood's trial, and brought the two Oomans into the Silver Crescent Clan for the first time in its history! He was the warrior Ko, and he was not going to be scared out of his own clan by a bunch of hateful females. **_

_**Kurai's speech gave him confidence and he nodded in appreciation. She somehow managed to make things all right for him. He would always owe the Blue Leaf Clan a debt for allowing him to stay, that went without saying, but he would no longer have to pretend that he liked any of them. They had treated him like an outcast his entire life for something he had no control over, and would give anything to change. With these revelations comforting him, he walked back into the kehrite, picked up his combi-stick, and turned to look over his shoulder at Kurai.**_

_**"Will you be practicing today or not, Ooman?" He said, and Kurai smiled.**_

Kurai was glad to see that Ko had perked up a little. Seeing the people who generally ignored you when you were a kid could really mess with your head. Ko was going about his training, probably thinking back on the days when he was still a member of the Blue Leaf. She couldn't imaging living as he did; with everyone blaming her for her mother's death. But then again, people weren't exactly private with their suspicions that she had killed her father, either.

Thinking back to that hot day, when she had looked for her father, who had certainly been there the night before, yes; he had told her off for drinking half a two liter of soda before bed… and, she remembered, that was two days after he had taken first place in a huge martial arts tournament; the reporters were still calling for interviews. The day was so hot…and all she had seen was a weird shimmering in the air-

Kurai's eyes went wide; _"No fucking way!"_ she thought. She narrowly avoided being hit in the side of the head by Ko's combi-stick because she wasn't paying attention. The large male cocked his head to the side in confusion as to why his opponent had suddenly stopped moving in the middle of a match.

It all made sense! It had been an extremely hot week; and Ko, along with a few other Yautja, had told her that their race absolutely adored heat, their home planet was, as they put it, one big jungle. The fact that her father had just won a huge fighting tournament; surely a Yautja in the area couldn't have missed such a good opportunity. Elder Yeyinde had told her once that at any given time, there were at least fifty Yautja hunting in various places on Earth, so it wasn't impossible that one was in California at the time. It was actually kind of a scary thought.

And that shimmering she had seen in the air; that had gotten her locked up in the nuthouse…that could easily have been one of the Yautja's camouflage fields. While reading up on Yautja weapons and armor, Kurai had found that almost every member of their race who had armor also had a cloaking field to render them almost invisible. The fields were able to bend light around the wearer, leaving only a blurry outline in most circumstances. She also had learned that, while humans could see them only if they tried hard enough or and knew what they were looking for, there were some devices on Earth that could detect a Yautja's presence. Xenomorphs and some other creatures could see a cloaked Yautja clearly, though. Oddly enough, the masks the hunters wore could detect Xenomorphs, as well as human and animal body heat, and many other spectrums of light, but the creatures themselves couldn't see Xenos very well, but their sense of smell and hearing was incredible.

Now Kurai was about ninety percent sure she was right about this; a Yautja had killed her father.

And she was training to be a part of a clan of them, and one wanted to date her.

Kurai's mind reeled with all these new thoughts, she felt dizzy, and then she fainted...


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter III

Kurai awoke in her own bed…again. She was really starting to get pissed about this whole fainting thing, and the bit of information she now knew wasn't helping her at all. A Yautja had hunted her father, and had probably killed him. A member of the same race whose ranks she and her best friend had joined.

She wondered if it was one of the Silver Crescent Clan that was the culprit. Perhaps it was someone she knew; Elder Yeyinde, Kantra, Dto, and, she thought with a start, maybe even Ko. That thought disturbed her greatly. Yet again her friends were crowded around her, but this time, she thought that any of the Yautja could be the one who took her father away from her. Maybe one of the human skulls she saw in the various trophy cases around the ship was that of her father…

She sat up and put her head in her hand, and gasped when she saw Ko looking at her in concern. Looking at him now, she couldn't help but wonder about him. He had killed humans before, so what made her think that he couldn't have killed her dad?

_**Ko looked down at her, she had fainted again, which only proved that Kantra was wrong and that Kurai still needed rest. But why had she fainted? She seemed to be so active; so willing to train for her chiva? And the way she had looked before she had lost consciousness...as though she had just realized something horrible. What could be so bad as to make Kurai react like that? Oh, well, he'd just have to get her alone and ask her later...preferably before the Blue Leaf Clan arrived.**_

_**And that was another matter; he couldn't get over the thought that, in a few hours, the females that he had grown up around would be...mating...with his fellow hunters. If this were any other clan he wouldn't have cared what his fellow hunters did, but it was just so odd. It wasn't as though he really cared about any of the females of his clan...he didn't really know them enough to care about them, but they were his blood relatives, though he had never really considered them as such; they had always been too distant for him to consider them actual relations.**_

_**He sighed; the gods were very fond of doing things like this. Ko was, however, fairly sure he could face his family if things came down to it. He still couldn't get over how much they seemed to loathe him. He had never played with other pups as a child, never been held by a female, and no one had come to watch him train when he was young, but he had managed to survive up until this point. He now had Kurai and Taki, and the Elder was taking a bit more notice of him. **_

_**He forced himself out of these thoughts as Kurai sat up and put her head in one hand. She looked at him and her eyes went wide again, what in the name of Paya was wrong with her?**_

Kurai managed a weak smile, which Ko returned. It was strange that she didn't find his species' version of a smile creepy anymore. She was actually starting to think that he was kind of...handsome...in a weird way, but she could never be with him if she found out that her fears were valid. Silently she hoped that Ko, at least, wasn't the one who killed her father.

"_Come on, there's a lot of other Yautja out there. What are the real odds that I'm in the clan that killed my dad? Pretty damn slim, I'd say; but I need to know." _She thought. But how to bring it up? It wasn't as if she could just say "Hey Ko, uh, did you or anyone you know happen to be in California and kill my father five years ago?" that was a real relationship killer. No, best to be tactful about this.

"Kurai, are you all right? You fainted again; I knew you should have stayed in bed!" Ko asked, and Kurai couldn't help but smile at his concern. Surely he wasn't the one? She got out of bed and saw that she was dressed in her nightgown. Ko saw the look on her face.

"I...I had to change you myself. The others were either doing something or wouldn't get there in time. I didn't know about it at first, but Taki said it would be all right in this situation. Don't worry; I didn't...look or...touch anything..." he seemed embarrassed.

"It's okay, this was a special situation, I understand." She said, and the hunter looked relieved.

Taki was sitting on Kurai's bed now, and seemed to know that his friend had something on her mind. Kurai was grateful that she had a friend who knew her so well. If she could talk to anyone about this, it would be Taki. Despite the face he presented to the world, the feminine, sensitive pretty boy, he could listen and give very good advice when she needed it. Taki also had a dark side that made even Kurai shiver, but now it was his listening skills she needed.

"Hey guys, I need to get dressed..." Kurai hinted, and the rest of them left. If there was one drawback to living with these Yautja, it was that they were all male, and therefore had a male mentality. Ko took the hint and rose immediately, as well as Guan and Kantra, but Dto gave a sensual little rumble and jokingly flexed his mandibles in a rather suggestive way. Elder Yeyinde growled at the younger male and led him out of the room by his dreadlocks, with Dto giving small whimpers now and then. Taki stayed behind a moment.

"You've got something on your mind, right?" he asked. Kurai nodded.

"Must be pretty big, for you to faint like that. Look, I can't stay and talk right now, or they'll think something's goin' on; but come see me in the kehrite in fifteen minutes and you can tell me what's up."

"Okay. And Taki, thanks." She said. Her friend nodded and left the room, letting her friend get ready.

Kurai changed into a black shirt and shorts, and put on a pair of old sneakers. She was glad that the Yautja weren't really concerned with high fashion; she'd be really screwed then. Ko had suggested that, when they next landed on the homeworld, she go and get fitted for a wardrobe of Yautja clothes, and in some other colors. She just couldn't get him to see that she was just comfortable wearing black and purple; Taki had accepted this fact long ago.

She finished by brushing her hair and putting it back up, and then walked out of the room and locked the door and headed to the kehrite. She didn't expect to see Ko waiting for her outside. He looked worried, and she had a feeling that she wasn't going to get out of this one easily.

"What was that? why did you faint during our training? Kantra was wrong; you do need more rest. You should go back to bed and stay there for a little while longer, Kurai." With this, he reached out with one massive hand and took her arm. She couldn't help but marvel at just how huge this one was.

"No, I'm okay; I swear! I just had an...interesting...thought and I guess it overwhelmed me. Don't worry, I'll be okay." She said quickly. She just couldn't afford for Ko to find out about her suspicions yet; he probably wouldn't take it well.

"You Oomans are always thinking; too much thinking can get you killed, you know. Then again, that's why you're such good prey. Just...be careful. I...I don't want anything to happen to you; we still haven't gone on our...date...yet, and I'm very much looking forward to it." With this, he released her and walked off in the direction of the dining hall.

Dinner would be starting soon and everyone would be heading to the dining hall, which was probably why Taki had asked to see her in the kehrite. Kurai hurried to meet her friend; she just had to confide in someone. She walked into the room to find Taki standing there waiting. She walked over to him and took a deep breath, then told him everything.

"Oh my god! I can't believe it! Are you sure? I mean are you really sure?" he asked. His eyes were wide with surprise, and Kurai was admittedly a little amused at her friend.

"I'm pretty sure about this, Taki. When you think about this, it really makes sense; the heat, the shimmering, the fact that my father won a huge tournament just before he disappeared! It can't be a coincidence! And what if it was someone we know? Anyone here could be the one who killed my father, and here I am making friends!"

"I understand that you're freaked out, but when you think about it, what are the odds that the Yautja who killed your dad is in this clan? I mean, that's like being struck by lightning, winning the lottery, and finding out that you have a long-lost twin in one day  
! There's practically no chance that one of the Silver Crescent Clan killed your dad. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of clans out there, right?"

"Yeah, I know, but there's always a chance." She said. "I mean, what were the chances that my grandfather would meet a Yautja, and then I'd meet one, too? What are the chances that I'd meet two Xenomorphs, or that I'd make friends with them? The chances that I'd serve as, and survive being, a host for a Queen Xeno? That I'd leave Earth with the Yautja? Or that I'd almost be raped twice in one month? Pretty much everything we've been doing the past few weeks has been a one in a million chance,Taki!"

"Good point, but still…"

"But still you wonder about us." Came another voice from the door. The two humans turned to see none other than Elder Yeyinde in the doorway.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter IV

"Oh, shit…" the two said together as the Yautja walked calmly toward them.

"Shit indeed."

"H-how much of that did you hear, Elder?" Kurai asked.

"Quite a bit, actually. I was just coming down here to get some training in and happened upon a very interesting conversation. Kurai, I'd like to see you privately, and Taki, I forbid you to speak of this to anyone; do you understand me?"

Taki nodded, and Elder Yeyinde turned to Kurai. "Follow me, Ooman; we have many things to discuss." He said, then turned to leave the room. Kurai did as she was told and followed the Elder out of the kehrite. He led her to his rooms, where he told her to stand while he sat behind his large desk. At last, he spoke.

"You know, Kurai, your conversation just now was very interesting. I usually try not to eavesdrop on other peoples' conversations, but yours was just so…fascinating. I have quite a few questions for you, but I don't know where to start. Oh, this is going to be a long day…"

"What exactly do you want to know?"

"Well, for starters, we need to speak about these suspicions you have about your father…it sounds as though you could be right."

"You mean, a Yautja really could have killed my father?"

"With all the things I heard, very possible; but in truth, there's no way to prove it."

"Sure there is; you could just check records or something; there's gotta be a…database or something!"

"No; we don't keep records like you Oomans do. I could check the hunt records of the Silver Crescent Clan, but I don't think any of us is responsible, and I can't check the records of any other clan without permission from their Elder. Though I do think that your suspicions are correct, there's just no way to find out who it was. Now, on to the next matter…"

"Next matter? _NEXT MATTER_! This is my father we're talking about! And he may be just an Ooman to you, but he was all I had after my mother died! When he disappeared, people said that I was responsible! I went to a mental hospital, Elder Yeyinde, because they thought I was crazy when I told them about seeing what I now know was one of your camouflage fields! What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?" Kurai cried out.

The Elder stood up and roared in fury, Kurai was to angry to even flinch. "Do you have any idea of who you're speaking to, Ooman? I could have you killed for such behavior! You will remember your place, or I rest assured, I _will_ remind you of it! Now, I suggest you calm down before speaking to me again, is that understood?"

"Whatever, just ask your next fucking question." She snapped.

"I suggest you watch your tone…and your language, when speaking to me." He said. Then asked, "I heard something about kiande amedha; care to fill me in on the situation?"

"Nope."

"Excuse me?"

"I said no; I don't think it's anything you need to know about."

"What the pauk do you mean "nothing I need to know about"? I am the Elder of this clan! Everything that goes on is something I need to know about! And especially when it involves kiande amedha! Now, tell me what you were talking about!"

"NO!"

"YOU DARE DENY ME INFORMATION? I AM-"

"The Elder of this clan, blah blah blah...are we done here? I've already told you; I'm not telling you a god damned thing, and quite frankly, you're starting to piss me off."

Elder Yeyinde stared open-mouthed at her; he had apparently not been told off in some time. Kurai wondered if she had gone too far; this guy really could have her killed if he wanted too. She wouldn't, however, tell him anything about Makoto and Shisome. She would not let those two be hunted, not after all they had been through together.

"I suggest you leave, before either of us says or does anything more to worsen this situation. I would advise you not to tell anyone about what we were discussing, and I will do the same. We will continue this conversation after the females leave, and don't think I'll forget. Now go, and thank whatever deities you worship that I don't punish you severely for speaking to me the way you did. I swear, though, if you ever talk to me like that again, not even Ko can save you from being punished. You will learn to respect me, Ooman."

With this, he dismissed her. Kurai turned and left, happy that she had at least kept her secret about Makoto and Shisome. She saw that she might have some problems in the future, but there was no way that Elder Yeyinde was going to find out about the Xenos.

Now all she really had to worry about was Ko's maternal clan. This was going to be one hell of an experience. She could already see that the clan's stay was not going to go smoothly.

She got to her room to find both Taki and Ko waiting. Taki had apparently not followed the Elder's orders about keeping quiet, judging by the look of concern on Ko's face. "Well?" he asked.

Kurai told the both of them what had happened in the Elder's rooms, and Taki was biting his lip nervously at the end of the tale. Ko was just as nervous and turned a bit pale when she told him about what she had said to Elder Yeyinde.

"You said what?"

"I told him he was pissing me off, and he was."

"You can't speak to an Elder that way, Kurai!"

"What was I supposed to do; tell him about Makoto and Shisome?"

"Well…maybe…I mean, it's not like there aren't other kiande amedha out there…"

"Oh my god! You're not serious! There's no way in hell I'm telling him about that!"

He was about to answer, when Dto suddenly rushed into the room. He looked out of breath, as though he had been either running or fighting.

"Ko, Kurai, Taki, come quickly!"

"What's wrong? What happened?" Kurai asked.

"The female clan has come early!" with this, he turned and ran back out the door. Kurai and Ko looked at each other, then ran out the door after Dto, with Taki following.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer-Don't own it.

Chapter V

The three of them ran out of the room and followed Dto down the long halls. Kurai noticed that there were a lot of males in the halls now, and Kurai was noticing that the scent emanating from them was a new one; one she really couldn't quite place. She was going to have to talk to Ko about this later. They kept running, with Kurai thinking that the next few days (the females would only be staying for four before returning to the Yautja homeworld) would be very interesting. Ko was looking nervous; and the girl couldn't blame the Yautja, these people had treated him like shit since he was born, and here they were, when he was finally away from them. She hoped that things wouldn't get too out-of-hand in the next few days; she still had her chiva to train for, and something told her that Kantra's mind wouldn't be on teaching for awhile.

At last they arrived at what Kurai now knew was the docking bay, where a small ship was waiting. The Silver Crescent's ship was a very large one, but the Blue Leaf still had to use a smaller ship to board. The ship was what Kurai now recognized as one of the ones that were usually used for single hunters, but pretty much every Clan had one, just in case. The ship's door began to open, and folded down, making a ramp for the occupants to walk down. This was it; the moment of truth. Would things go well, or would Ko and his old clan end up fighting?

The first of the females began to exit; presumably the Matriarch, judging by her long blue cape. She was a rather plain-looking female, with light brown skin with small green spots. She had orange-yellow eyes, and her hair was braided with gold bands. She was wearing a plain leather halter top and long skirt, with what looked like leather sandals on her feet. All in all, she was not incredibly impressive; unlike Arbitrator Ya'Muri.

The other females in the clan were no more impressive; they were all dressed in plain-looking clothes, basic colors of leather and simple ornaments and jewelry. Kurai couldn't believe that a clan of females, who were supposed to be the ones running the show in this culture, were dressed so plainly.

"Hey, they don't look too important, what's the deal, Ko?" Taki asked. It was amazing that he seemed to read her thoughts, and she could do the same for him. They'd been through so much in their lives that it seemed only natural that they were that in tune with each other.

"The Blue Leaf Clan is not one of the highest-ranking clans in our society, but they are still respected." Ko explained as he watched his former clan mates depart their ship. "We never had a lot, and we were never really that well-off, but we survived. The Blue Leaf is normally on the homeworld, like a lot of female clans, but, like most clans, they do have their own ship in case they ever need to travel."

"Oh, I get it now; like, if the males don't show up one mating season, and some females want children, they'll just go out in their ship and look for mates?" Taki said.

"Something like that, but females rarely look for mates; males come to females. A female may, however, search for a male of a high enough rank to please her. Female Yautja almost never settle for anything less than a warrior."

"Almost never? Does that mean that sometimes a female will, you know…settle for an Unblooded or a Young Blood?" Kurai asked curiously.

"Very rarely, but yes, it is not unheard of. She would have to be either very desperate for a pup or she'd have to have feelings for the male." Ko said.

"Well, what about an Eta? Is that possible?" Taki asked the large male.

"Do you mean would she mate or breed? There's a difference." Ko said thoughtfully.

"Okay then, mate." Taki said, he sounded really curious now.

"She would have to be very...amorous...to want to mate with an Eta, and she'd be very picky

about the one she chose."

"So, what about breeding then?" Kurai put in. Ko put a hand up and rubbed the back of his head.

"That is even rarer than with an Unblooded or Young Blood; the only way a female would ever breed with an Eta is if she had feelings for him, but even then, she might choose a more honorable male. Though, I'm just guessing on this; you'll have to ask a female, they have rules for such things."

"Here they come! Oh, they smell so good!" Dto spoke up for the first time.

"What, I don't smell anything; do they have some kind of perfume or something?" Taki asked, and Kurai could also smell something odd in the air, something like the scent she kept getting off of the males.

"It's not perfume, Taki it's…oh, how can I put this? It's pheromones. The females are…well…in heat right now." Ko explained.

"Yes, they are at their most fertile this time of year. That smell tells a male that the female can become pregnant very easily at this time. It's one of the most wonderful smells in the universe to a male. We can smell that scent as soon as we reach puberty, but a female doesn't become fertile until she is about twenty, in normal cases." Dto said, he seemed to be trying to suck up all the air in the room. Kurai, who was standing beside the green Yautja, decided that, with the way he was inhaling and the situation being what it was, it would be a good idea for her to back up a couple of feet. Dto was now rumbling loudly, as were a few of the surrounding males.

"So, that scent I've smelled coming off the males is what, then?" Kurai asked Ko, who was the only one not intoxicated by the smell of the females.

"It's sort of a male's signal to a female that he is also ready to mate, but you really shouldn't be able to smell it, Kurai." Ko sounded a little shocked.

"Yeah, but I've been smelling more things than just the normal ones since that blood transfusion." Kurai told him.

"I see, you must have gained our ability to smell pheromones, it can be useful at times; some Yautja can even tell when someone is lying, by the way their bodies smell." He seemed to be almost talking to himself.

"So, wait; do females go crazy like males because of the scent you give out?" Taki asked.

"No, they just ignore it, I suppose." Ko answered, he had apparently been knocked back to reality.

"Speaking of ignoring, look who's here, little Ko!" it was one of the females form the Blue Leaf Clan.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer-Don't own it.

Chapter VI

She had apparently been walking out of the room along with the rest of her clan, when she had spotted Ko in the crowd. She was wearing a dark brown tube top and matching loincloth, and her skin and eyes were both a light brown. Her hair was braided in what looked like copper bands, and she carried a small dagger on her belt.

"My my, I didn't know that this clan was allowing trash to join; perhaps I should suggest to the Matriarch that we leave? I had expected that the Silver Crescent Clan would have higher standards, with all the things we've heard about them, but...perhaps they don't know about your…origins, Ko?"

"Leave him alone." Kurai warned. The female suddenly noticed the human for the first time.

"An Ooman? No, two Oomans? This clan really is scraping the bottom of the trash bin for new members! And I heard that there was a Bad Blood trial here a while ago? Perhaps there'll be another one soon; when they find out about how you killed your own mother, you'll be kicked out of here faster than you can breathe!"

"All right, bitch, you can either shut the fuck up right now or I can beat the shit out of you, got it?" Kurai said.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?" The female shrieked.

"Let me spell it out for you; shut…the…fuck…up. Is that clear enough? Ko's not in your broke-ass clan anymore; he's in the Silver Crescent, and he's pretty highly ranked." She said.

"You will pay dearly for your words, Ooman! And Ko, just wait until I tell the Matriarch you're here; she'll be absolutely thrilled! Why, she's wanted to see you dead for years! The previous Matriarch was far too soft on you; letting you train with the other, decent males! She may not be able to kill you, but I can't wait to see you suffer when your little Ooman dies for her impudence! You deserve it, you know; for killing your poor mother, she deserved better than a bastard mistake like you."

With this, she smiled wickedly and walked off to rejoin her clan. She was obviously telling the others about him, since they all turned their heads to look in his direction.

"Kurai, what fresh hell have you made for yourself? You should have kept quiet; I can take her insults, I have before." Ko said, he sounded worried.

"Who was that crazy bitch?" Taki asked.

"That crazy bitch is a member of my clan who treated me more cruelly than most. Her mother is one of the highest ranking in our clan, and so she thinks that she is above the average Yautja. She spent her time deliberately making my life hell, well, more so than it was already. Actually, I should thank her."

"Thank her, for what?" Taki asked.

"Her constant cruelties made me want to get the hell out of my maternal clan as soon as I possibly could; during my teenage years, I trained harder than the other males so that I could get a chance to take my chiva with a clan, any clan. Imagine my surprise when the Silver Crescent Clan was on the homeworld in one of the large cities nearby! They found out that I was looking for a clan, and they allowed me to take my chiva with theirs. I owe Elder Yeyinde a great debt for allowing me to join; especially since I don't know who my father is."

"What does that matter?" Kurai asked.

"Well, for all they knew, I could have been the son of a Bad Blood, maybe seeking revenge on the Elder for killing my father."

"That's logical, I guess." Kurai said. "Come on, that bitch pissed me off, let's get the fuck out of this place." With this, she turned and began walking toward the room's entrance.

The others were soon following, and they found themselves in one of the lounges on the lower decks. This lounge was not as elegant as the one Kurai had found herself in when she had met Arbitrator Ya'Muri, but it had a comfortable feeling that was far from unpleasant. They took up positions on the assortment of couches and chairs that surrounding a large round wooden table.

Ko took up a position on Kurai's left, while Taki sat at her right. Dto sat in a chair and leaned back, arms folded across his chest.

"I only hope," he said, "that your little...episode...with that female just now doesn't interfere with my chances to mate. I mean, if they find out that I am your friend, they might not take it too well now." He said.

"Oh, just go find a dirty magazine and get some private time like the rest of us." Taki said.

"What's a magazine?" Dto and Ko both asked together. "And how does it get dirty?"

"A magazine is like a really thin book, and a dirty magazine is one with something like naked people, sometimes just posing provocatively, sometimes doing things of a...sexual nature. You can get them pretty much anywhere these days." Taki explained.

"WHAT?" They both shouted.

"That's disgusting!" Ko said.

"I think it's intriguing..." Dto said, Ko shot him a furious look.

Ko seemed about to say something else, when a young female came into the room and stood before them. She seemed to be about fifteen, and she had a very serious look on her face. She was wearing a long blue skirt, with a top that looked like a short-sleeved t-shirt that came up above her belly button. Her hair had not been braided yet, and it was bound in what resembled a long blue ribbon. It was the first time Kurai had ever seen a Yautja without the braids, and she was surprised to see that the tresses were very coarse.

"The Matriarch of the Blue Leaf Clan wishes that the female Ooman and the former member Ko come to her rooms immediately." The young female said.

"Yeah, no; I don't think so." Kurai said.

"She insists." The female said, and Kurai could tell that there would be trouble for everyone if she didn't go and see this Matriarch. She wanted to see what kind of person could treat a child like Ko so badly.

"Fine; I'll be there in a minute, Ko are you coming?"

"It seems I have no choice." Ko said. He seemed a little hesitant, and Kurai truly felt for him.

"Very well, I shall tell her that you are coming." The young female said, before turning and walking out the door. She turned back a moment later, saying, "Oh, the Matriarch's rooms are on th upper deck, right by the lounge."

"Well, this should be most interesting." Taki mused. "Kurai, you simply _must_ tell me everything when you're done, okay?"

"Deal, now let's go, Ko; I wanna get this over with as soon as possible."

Ko nodded, and they got up and headed in the direction that young female had indicated.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter VII

Kurai and Ko walked down the long hall, each one nervous, but for different reasons. Kurai was nervous because she didn't know if she was going to have to fight or not, and she had never fought a female Yautja before. Ko, on the other hand, was nervous for Kurai; he knew full well that the Blue Leaf's matriarch was not one to toy with. He prayed that, if things came to fighting, that he could step in and do something.

They kept on going, the young female leading the way, until they came into view of a large set of doors, presumably the entrance to the matriarch's rooms. The female knocked, and a voice said "Enter."

The doors opened, to reveal a large and beautiful room; the walls were made from pale green stone, and the tiles were also green, and made of what seemed like marble. There were a few windows, which looked out into space, and there were also large pots containing exotic and beautiful plants. The young female led them into the room and into another, this one done in pale blue and furnished with large pillows on the floor to serve as chairs. It was on one of these that a female sat; the one in the plain leather clothes and blue cape from earlier.

She was apparently reading something on a data pad, because she looked up as they entered the room. The younger female bowed to her, to which she responded with a nod, and the young female left quickly. The matriarch set her data pad aside and stood up; she didn't look happy.

"I have been notified of your little confrontation with one of my females. I must admit, I didn't expect there to be trouble when we came here. I certainly didn't expect to find you here, Ko." She said.

"First off, your female was the one who started everything, not Ko. Ko's my friend, so I stepped in, and I'll always step in if one of my friends needs me! I would have kicked that bitch's ass right then and there, and I'll still kick her ass if she wants to start something!" Kurai said.

"How dare you! I am Mila, the Matriarch of the Blue Leaf Clan! You…you are an Ooman, an Unblooded Ooman! You cannot speak to me like that, who do you think you are?" the Matriarch roared furiously.

"Me? I'm Kurai Blackwood; and I'll kick your ass if you fuck with me! Now, we can settle this like civilized people and reach an understanding, or we can fight, I'll kick your ass, and you'll know that I'm not screwing around!" Kurai said.

"Stop this!" Ko said, stepping between the two of them. The Matriarch glared at him.

"So, it seems that we were fated to meat again, Ko. I thought we'd be rid of you when you went away to join a clan, but it appears I was wrong. Our last Matriarch let you live out of respect for your mother, despite the fact that quite a few of us in the clan called for your death. You were a curse on your bloodline, and a curse on our clan!" she said.

"Ko, go outside, I'll take care of this." Kurai said. Ko looked at her, seemingly confused.

"But Kurai…" he said.

"GO!" She said. He looked at her a moment more, then left.

"Hm, seems he listens to you, interesting. And I'll guess that he sees you as more than his friend…" she mocked.

"Maybe he does, and maybe he doesn't. Either way, it's none of your business. Now, we need to have a little talk, and you're going to tell me what I want to know, got it?" Kurai said, _"Christ, that sounded like an interrogation from an old action movie. If Taki ever gets wind of that, he'll never let me forget it." She thought to herself._

"All right…I'll play your little game. What do you want to know, exactly?" Mila said.

"First of all, I want you to leave Ko alone while you're here. He hasn't done anything to you that would warrant your behavior. He's was just minding his own business earlier, when that female came over starting shit. I don't want anything like that to happen again. If you've got a problem with me, take it up with me, and don't drag anyone else into it." Kurai said.

"It sounds fair, but I can't guarantee anything, you understand. What's next?" she asked. She seemed amused, as though she wasn't taking Kurai seriously. If she wanted to see how serious Kurai could get, Kurai would be glad to oblige.

"Next, I want you to tell me everything about Ko. Why did you treat him like you did when he was growing up? The Yautja are more advanced than the humans, yet, from what I understand you stick to some ridiculous superstition about bad luck and curses. What the hell is so fucking great about a civilization that treats a child like some sort of murderer?

Ko is one of my best friends, and he told me everything about his childhood; how you ignored him, treated him like shit, and how you told him that he killed his mother, like he did it on purpose!" Kurai said angrily.

"He was a curse on our honor." Mila said quietly.

"Fuck honor!" Kurai yelled, Mila looked horrified.

"Honor made you blame a newborn for something he couldn't control? Made you ignore him, when all he needed was someone to tell him that there was nothing wrong with him. You treated him like dirt, and yet he rose above it. He's a proud hunter of the Silver Crescent Clan, and he has friends that care for him. You may not give a damn about him, but I do!

Why? Why did you leave him and just ignore him? Why did you make him feel so bad? What did he do?" Kurai asked.

"It wasn't him, at least not entirely; it was his mother who started everything." Mila said at last.

"What did she do? What did she do to make you hate her son? She died in childbirth, so whatever she did should have died with her." Kurai said.

"If she had died in childbirth, it would have." Mila said quietly.

"Wh-what are you saying?" Kurai asked. Was she saying what Kurai thought she was saying?

"I'm saying, that as far as I know, Ko's mother is still alive."


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter VIII

"What did you just say?" Kurai asked, shocked at what she had just heard.

"I said that Ko's mother is still alive, or at she is as far as I know." Mila said. Kurai couldn't believe it.

"But how? How is that possible?" the human asked.

"I may as well tell you, it's not really a secret anymore, now that Ko isn't in the clan any longer.

You see, Ko's mother was well-loved, that part is true, but she was well-loved by the males as well. That mating season, some males came to our clan, not very honorable ones, mind you, and they were seeking mates, as well as supplies for their ship. None of the females would accept them due to their low status. None, that is, except one."

"Ko's mother?" Kurai asked.

"Yes. We don't know which one of them she mated with, but by the time they left, she was pregnant. The Matriarch urged her to terminate the pregnancy, seeing as how an illegitimate child would dishonor our clan greatly, but she refused. In our culture, no female can be forced to have an abortion, but they can have their child taken away, if the circumstances are right. A child cannot be killed, either, but it can be raised as an Eta, and would be as good as dead. Ko's mother, being far more soft-hearted than smart, made a deal with the Matriarch.

The terms of the deal were simple; Ko would be delivered and raised as a member of the Blue Leaf Clan, and his mother would leave, never to return. So, a few months later, had the baby, and was banished from our clan. Ko was told that she died having him, which was a partial truth, seeing that she was forever dead to our clan. Ko's mother told us to raise him, but she never said anything about raising him with love."

"So, you took your anger out on an infant?" Kurai hissed.

"It was his fault; if he'd never been born, none of this would have happened! He's the son of a whore and low-blooded male, nothing more! If he'd still been around when I became Matriarch, I would have had him killed!" Mila said cruelly.

"But his mother's deal!" Kurai said in disbelief.

"Her deal was with the previous Matriarch, it means nothing to me. In truth, I always hated Ko's mother. Every year, the males would flock to her, and only see me when she rejected them. She turned down Ancients, Arbitrators, and Elders, but allowed herself to be bedded by a lowly male with hardly any good trophies! She mocked all of us when she bred with him. I pray the gods gave her what she deserved for what she did." Mila spat furiously.

"So, where is she?" Kurai asked.

"I don't know, and I don't care. Personally, I hope she's dead, but I never have been very lucky. Last time I saw her was on the day she was banished, and she headed East from out clan's village. Why? Are you going to tell poor little baby Ko about this?" the Yautja mocked.

"You bet your skanky ass I am. He deserves to know, unless, of course, you want to try and stop me?" Kurai asked. She had had enough of this bitch's insults and mockery and was fully prepared to kick her ass.

"Of course not! I would actually love to see the look on Ko's face when you tell him that the mother he cared for for so long didn't die to save him; she abandoned him! To know that he was the spawn of two dishonorable parents, it'd be positively delicious to see! And anyway, she's not part of the Blue Leaf Clan any longer, so it doesn't affect us in any way." Mila said, in a falsely sweet voice.

"Good, then I'll just be going to tell him, then. I think he'll be happy. In fact, I'm going to personally make sure that he and his mother are re-united, and that they're happy. Ko's mother did love him; enough to give up her life in her own clan to save his. I think you're just jealous, and it's sad." Kurai said, looking at the Yautja, who looked at her angrily.

"Jealous? Why would I be jealous of a tramp like that?" she asked.

"I think you're jealous that Ko's mother was a good person, something that you're not, and that Ko has a chance to be happy, something that you are pretty much incapable of." Kurai concluded. She got up and turned to leave.

"Happy? I'm happy! I'm the Matriarch of the Blue Leaf Clan; the highest position for a female within a clan! I can have any male I wish, and anything I wish! You're not even a Blooded yet, so what makes you so much better than me?" she hissed.

"I have friends and family who care for me. I have my health, and I have a lot of years ahead of me. I plan on making it to the top, and one day, I may even decide to start teaching Unblooded myself! I'm going to pass my chiva, and if you piss me off anymore, I'm gonna beat the living shit out of you! Now, good day." With this, she turned and exited the Matriarch's room; it was time to tell Ko about his mother.

She walked out in the halls and found Ko standing at the entrance to the Matriarch's rooms. He had waited for her, he could be cute sometimes.

She hoped that he really would be happy about hearing about his mother. All those years of being told that he had killed his mother had really fucked with his head, and this would destroy everything that he believed. Kurai had already told him that it wasn't his fault, but years of psychological damage couldn't be done with a little reassurance.

She decided that it would be better to tell him about this somewhere more private.

"Ko," Kurai said, feeling her heartbeat speed up at what she was about to suggest.

"Yes, Kurai?" the Yautja asked her, a little perplexed.

"Let's…go to your room."


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter IX

_**Ko couldn't believe what he had heard. Kurai had just asked to go to his room! Did she want to see his trophies? His heart was pounding already, but sped up even more when he thought about what was in his room-his bed! Surely she didn't want to…? Well, they had known each other for some time, and they did get along very well, so maybe she did want to? He was certainly willing if she did, though. **_

_**"Come on, show me where your room is." Kurai said, and Ko felt the blood rush to his face. He nodded, and she took his hand, and he breathed in sharply. Her scent was intoxicating, but that could be because it was the mating season. **_

_**Ko didn't know what had went on in Matriarch Mila's chambers, but it made her want to be with him privately; and he was not complaining.**_

_**He gently squeezed her hand and began to lead her to his room. He didn't know how things would go after that, but if Kurai was willing, then so was he. Eventually they were standing at the door to Ko's room, where he put the unlocking code in and led her inside. The lights came on automatically to illuminate the place. **_

Kurai looked around; Ko's room was bigger than hers, but not by a lot. There was a large bed in the center of the room, on which was a massive black pelt.

On the walls hung dozens of trophies. There were a few Xenomorph skulls, and some human ones, but those were the only ones she recognized. A large window looked out into the blackness of space, offering a beautiful view of a large green planet. There were two other doors in the room, and the human was almost positive that they led to a bathroom and a closet. There was a sort of desk, on which, like Elder Yeyinde's, there were several small odds and ends that looked like souvenirs from Ko's hunts. The door closed behind them and Kurai realized for the first time that they were alone…in Ko's room…with Ko's bed…

"Why am I thinking of that now?" Kurai thought to herself. "Even if I wanted too, now's not the time." She told herself. There were other things to worry about at the moment, and sex wasn't one of them. Taki would already have a field day with the fact that they were alone together.

"Ko," she said, it was now or never. "Ko I have something to tell you. We should sit down." She looked around, and surprise, surprise, the only place to sit was on Ko's bed. She only hoped he didn't get the wrong idea about this. She went over and sat, and he joined her. So far, he hadn't spoken a word, and it made her a little nervous.

"What is it that you wish to tell me?" Ko asked. He had seemed a little nervous when Kurai had suggested going back to his room, and she could guess what he was thinking, but there were other things to worry about.

"Ko, when I was with the Matriarch, she told me something that you might want to hear. Now, I know this might shock you, but stay with me here, because I really think it's true. Are you ready?" she looked at the Yautja, who looked back at her, somewhat confused.

"What is this that you're so eager to tell me, Kurai?" Ko laughed. She only hoped he was as happy when she told him about his mother.

"Ko, the Matriarch told me that…you're not going to believe this…but…your mother…is still alive."

"Ko's eyes grew to about twice their size, and he looked away from her.

"If this is a joke, then it's a very cruel one, Kurai." He said quietly.

"It's no joke, Ko. She told me that your clan didn't like the male your mother chose as her mate, so they tried to persuade her to abort you. She refused, but she was afraid that they'd take you and make you an Eta, so she struck up a deal; she'd leave the clan forever, if you could stay until you were old enough to join a male clan. The Matriarch told me that your mother was alive, the last time she heard." Kurai concluded, and looked at Ko.

He was just staring at the floor, the expression on his face was unreadable. She hoped that she hadn't upset him too much. Maybe she should have waited awhile…

"Why did you tell me this, Kurai?" Ko asked, he didn't sound too enthusiastic.

"I thought you'd be happy, Ko. Look, you always thought that your mother died having you, so now, you know she didn't!"

"You're right; she didn't die having me, she abandoned me!" he said, getting to his feet and walking over to the window.

"Ko, what do you mean?" Kurai asked, confused.

"When I thought she died having me it was…in a way…a gesture of love. I thought she died to give me life, but now…now I know that she left me there, in the care of people who hated me! She didn't want me, Kurai!" his voice had gotten louder as he spoke, ending in him practically screaming at her.

"You're wrong, Ko! If she didn't want you, she would have had an abortion and we wouldn't be speaking now. She gave you up because she loved you! She probably didn't think that the clan would take their anger out on you! Why don't you ask her yourself? The Matriarch said that she headed East from your clan's village, so you can start searching! You can meet her, Ko!"

"And what would I say, Kurai? What would I say to her? She probably wouldn't even recognize me now, anyway. She's probably happier now." He sounded so sad when he said that.

"I don't think so, Ko. I think that she's been wondering how you've been doing all this time. She probably thought about and missed you every single day, I would have if I were her." She got up and went to stand beside him, and saw that he was looking so sad.

"It must have been so hard for her, to give you up, but she probably figured that you had a better chance with the Blue Leaf than you would have with just her. She wanted the best for you, Ko. I know that the Blue Leaf Clan treated you badly, but you got through it, right? You joined one of the most honorable hunting clans out there, and you've got trophies, and not to mention some friends who care for you and," she took the opportunity to reach up and gently take his face in her hands, "one who cares for you…very deeply."

_**Ko couldn't believe what was happening. She had taken his face in her hands and was now standing very close to him. He could smell that she was nervous, but not in a bad way. She was looking up at him the way she had in that dream he'd had back on Pluvia, and it made him feel a little better.**_

_**Remembering the dream, Ko thought about how it was about to end and, breathing deeply, decided to give it a try. Taking her in his arms, which she didn't resist, he leaned in closer to her. He'd never done this before, and hoped that Kurai understood his intent.**_

_**She didn't resist his embrace, so he gently pulled her closer. Leaning down, he lowered his face to hers.**_

Kurai's heart pounded as Ko's face got closer to hers. When she'd first met him, the thought of kissing him might have made her a little queasy, but now it didn't seem like such a big deal. She felt his mandibles caress her cheeks, and found that she liked it. They made contact, and Kurai was surprised at just how eager, but careful, Ko was. She'd never kissed anyone like this, and was glad that Ko was the first one. Once, when she was twelve, she and Taki had tried kissing, but neither one of them found anything particularly special about it, but it was special now.

_**Ko couldn't believe what he was doing. He was kissing Kurai, and Kurai was enjoying it, quite thoroughly, in fact. She returned his embrace, and he wondered if maybe he should move back a little. Her smell was driving him crazy, and he knew for a fact that she could smell him, too. At last, he reluctantly ended the kiss and backed away, leaving Kurai breathless, and smiling.**_

"Well well, don't stop on my account." Taki's voice came in loud and clear. Turning, the two of them saw the young man in the doorway, smiling like a lunatic.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer- I don't own anything.**

Chapter X

"T-Taki! What are you doing here?" Ko asked quickly, letting Kurai go. She quickly put on an innocent face, but it was too late.

"It's too late; I've already seen the two of you! Way to go, Ko! I gotta tell you, I've been waiting on this for awhile…and now my baby's growing into a woman!" He said all this while trying not to burst out into hysterical laughter.

"Ooman, I swear if you-wait, how did you get in here in the first place? And how did you know we were here?" Ko cocked his head questioningly, making Kurai look at her friend.

"I was looking a the butt of a very cute little female and saw the two of you out of the corner of my eye. I figured that you were either going to talk or get up to some naughtah business, so I followed you. As for how I got in…I guess you were so…preoccupied, Ko, that you didn't remember to lock the door. You should really be more careful, Ko; any freak or sex pervert could walk in, and next time it won't be a sexah one like yours truly…" he practically sang the last sentence.

Ko seemed strangely satisfied by Taki's answer, and sighed.

"Well…I suppose now that you're here, we might as well tell you. My mother might be alive somewhere. She left me in the care of my clan so that I could be taken care of. I don't know who my father is yet, but I do have a clue as to how to find my mother and no, I don't know if I'm going too yet because I don't have my own ship yet. I've put in a request to the Council of Ancients back on the homeworld and they said they'd consider it, and even if I get it I still don't know if I'll look for her or not. Now you're up to date, feel free to cram your opinion into every orifice of my being, Taki."

Taki raised his eyebrows, before speaking.

"That's great about your mom, but I didn't really know she was supposed to be dead…this is really awkward…I'll leave now…" With this, he turned and walked out the door. Kurai turned back to Ko.

"First of all, never invite Taki to cram anything anywhere, second, I didn't tell him about your mom."

"Y-you didn't? I thought the two of you told each other everything?"

"It just seemed like something that you'd tell him when and if you were ready. We don't tell each other everything, you know. There are some things that I don't tell Taki, and some things I thank God every day Taki doesn't tell me, see?"

"…Thank you, Kurai." Ko said quietly, before reaching for her again.

"This time, I'll lock the door." He said, bringing his face closer to the human's. They kissed again, and Kurai felt Ko's huge hands move from her waist to begin gently exploring her a little. Kurai reached up and put her hands on Ko's arms, and the giant began to rumble loudly.

Kurai was thoroughly enjoying what Ko was doing; he wasn't like a human man, who was so interested in getting to the main event, he was happy with what they were doing at the moment. Everything was going great; Kurai was getting into the moment, until…

She hadn't noticed that, during the time they were kissing and caressing each other, Ko was carefully leading her in the general direction of his massive bed.

In a moment, the girl found herself sitting on the edge of the bed along with Ko, who was more than content to continue with matters. He gently pulled away and gave a meaningful glance at the bed, then a questioning one at her.

"Ko…no, not yet, anyway." She said.

"Are you sure? I swear, I may not be experienced, but I'll be very gentle with you, Kurai. If you're worried about getting hurt…"

"It's not that, Ko; well, not all of it. I'm not ready to…do that…yet."

The Yautja didn't seem happy, but he didn't press the issue. Kurai had to admit that she was surprised; here it was, the beginning of mating season for his kind, and she had just turned him on and turned him down. She was amazed that he wasn't furious with her.

"Aren't you…going to whine or beg? Aren't you going to get mad at me?" she asked.

"No, not really. I like the way you don't just roll over for a male, I admire it, Kurai. Besides, in my culture, when a female rejects a male that's it; there is no whining or begging, the male just leaves her alone. However, if you ever want to…be with me, you just need to ask. I will never try to make you do anything you're uncomfortable with, Kurai. That's not the way you treat someone you…care for."

With this, reached out and touched her face, and gave a Yautja smile.

Kurai returned the smile and rose to leave. There were a lot of things that she needed to think about right now, but for once they were good things. Even though he wasn't human, Kurai was beginning to realize that she really could care for Ko.

"Kurai, don't forget; you still have a lot of training to do before you can even think of your chiva. If I were you, I'd get back to the kehrite and practice with your fans. Actually, I'd look into a change of weapons if I were you. That goes for Taki too." He had to change the subject, apparently, and Kurai silently thanked him for it, then she realized what he'd just said.

"A change of weapons? What's wrong with my fans? And what's wrong with Taki's shurikens?" she asked

"On Earth, nothing; but those weapons are going to melt like ice on a hot day when exposed to kiande amedha blood. I suggest that you go visit Ne'Renh on the upper deck." He said, rising from the bed.

"Who's Ne'Renh?" Kurai asked.

"He used to be a very famous weapons maker before he retired. He was on a hunt and a kiande amedha injured his leg. He was an all right hunter, but never gained any real glory for his exploits. The only reason he was able to avoid becoming an Eta was because of his skills. It's considered an honor to have one of Ne'Renh's blades on your wall; I know I wish I had one. He still passes his time making weapons for any hunter who can either pay him enough or can present him with a challenge that interests him. I think that your fan and Taki's shurikens will just about do it. If nothing else, he'll reject Taki and he'll be using smart discs on his hunt."

Kurai mulled this over for a few moments before nodding.

"Yeah, I think that I'll go get Taki and we'll check it out. Thanks for the tip, Ko. Will I see you in the kehrite later?" she asked.

"Of course; someone has to come in case Kantra's drunk again. Honestly, I don't know what's wrong with him!" he stopped himself.

"What's wrong? That seemed like the beginning of a very good rant, Ko." She said.

"Kantra is highly honored and respected. It isn't my place to criticize him in such a way." Ko said quietly.

"Okay…anyway, I'm off to go find Taki and see that guy you told me about…Ne'Renh." She said.

"Very well, but remember, training, Kurai! I expect to see you in the kehrite as soon as you're done, no excuses!" he said.

"Cool." She replied as she headed out the door, leaving him looking after her.

_**"Today was a strange day…but a good one."**_** Ko thought to himself as he watched her leave, sighing, he sat back down; there were many things to think about.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer-I don't own it.**

Chapter XI

"So, who's this guy we're going to go see?" Taki asked as the two of them walked down the halls of the upper decks.

"His name's Ne'Renh and he's a weapons maker. Ko suggested that I go see him, well, both of us, actually."

"Why was that again?" he asked. Kurai didn't know if he was joking or not. She had heard of people having a one-track mind, but Taki had about a 30 track mind. It wasn't as bad when he was deprived of his caffeine, though.

"Stay with me, man! We're going there because Ko told me that we're going to need new weapons if we're going to fight Xenos, and he's right. If we try to fight them with our stuff, we'll be dead within the first minute. This guy can make us some things that can help us with our test!"

"Sounds good; but what if he won't make us anything? You know as well as I do how Yautja feel about humans." Taki said, putting his arms behind his head and looking up at the ceiling.

"Ko said that if he was interested in the challenge he'd help us." Kurai told him.

"Okay, so your fans are pretty much a given, but I don't think he'll be too wowed by my shurikens, Kurai." Taki said.

Kurai couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. Ever since they were kids, she had been in the spotlight while Taki had been behind the curtain. Pretty much everyone on Earth knew of her family, but Taki was always mentioned as "Kurai's friend", or "Taki something-or-other". He was never looked at as anything else. It was part of the reason why Kurai didn't like to show how much money she actually had-most of the time.

Taki's mom and dad had come over from Japan before Taki was born. They had lived in a very small town and didn't have much money to live on, even more so when they came to America. Eventually, they scraped together enough to buy a small house and begin a family. They had scrimped and saved to get to what most people would call lower class, and here Kurai was, with more money than a hundred people could spend in a thousand lifetimes.

"Well, if he won't help you then he won't help me, either. I'm not going to let him make me a weapon if he won't make you one." Kurai said determinedly.

"Kurai, that's crazy! If he offers to help you, you should take the offer! The Yautja have shurikens I can use, but you're the only one who ever uses fans around here. And I'm not just saying that, I heard some of the hunters talking and they said that they'd never seen weapons like yours before. They sounded like they were really impressed, Kurai!"

"Are you sure about this, Taki? I mean, I don't want to do this without you, it's not right."

"Of course it's right, Kurai! You're the better fighter, you always have been! If one of us is going to live through this test thing, it'll be you, hands down!" They had stopped walking now and had turned to face each other.

"Sure you do, Taki; you're great with your shurikens! I've seen you actually kill flies with them! Don't sell yourself short!" Kurai said. She hated it when Taki put himself down like that. When they were in martial arts classes together, even the sensei gave Kurai mounds of praise while giving Taki only the occasional "That's nice, Taki." The reason was obvious; Kurai's family was a rich one who could pay out the butt for classes, while Taki's could only make the minimum. it made her feel horrible.

That wasn't the only time something like that had happened, either. During school, Kurai was always highly praised, while Taki was practically ignored. His grades were fine, but the school saw the potential of large donations from Kurai's family. Even recently, the same thing had happened. Kurai knew full well that the only reason Taki had gotten to come along with her was because she refused to go unless he came too. She hated that people treated her better just because of her money. Taki was, in quite a few ways, a better person than she was.

"Kurai, you've always been better at things than I was, and everyone knows it. If this guy won't make me something, I'll deal, but this could be your only shot at getting new fans right now. Who knows when you'll get another chance like this?" Taki reasoned.

"Are you sure? I mean are you absolutely sure? I hate it when people treat us so differently!"

"Don't worry; I've gotten pretty used to it by now. Let's go now. Who knows? This guy might make stuff for both of us!" Taki said. Kurai loved how he always tried to look on the bright side of things.

"Well…okay, but I owe you for this!" Kurai said. She just wouldn't feel right about it if Ne'Renh wouldn't make weapons for Taki.

"Okay, let's go; Ko's not going to be happy if you're late for practice. You know how much he _wants_ you."

The two of them started walking again, this time a little faster.

"He doesn't want me…a lot…" Kurai said.

"Oh, come on; when I came in he was giving you a dental checkup! I still wonder about those mandibles, though…does it feel weird?"

"Not really; it was kind of nice, you know? He didn't just grab me and start slobbering on me like that girl you brought home that one time, he was…gentle."

"First off, she was just getting used to her new braces; it's not easy, you know. Second, why did you take so long to come get me? What exactly were you doing?" he winked.

"Not that, Taki! We did kiss…and somehow I ended up on his bed…but we didn't do anything…"

"You were _on_ his bed or _in_ his bed?" Taki asked, he was a little more serious now.

"I was sitting on his bed, that's it. Five minutes isn't really enough time to really do anything."

"Five minutes is enough to do plenty, Kurai. Just remember; no means no; you don't have to do anything if you don't want to."

"I know that, Taki. Besides, Ko's not like that. I told him I didn't want to and he dropped it. Then he told me about this Ne'Renh guy and I left. That's the only thing that happened. Five minutes, really?"

"Well, yeah. It's good that Ko's so patient, Kurai, but don't lead him on; not just because it's dangerous, but Ko's a great guy and I…I think he…you know…loves you."

"You think?" Kurai asked. "I mean, I know he likes me, but…love?"

"Yeah, I think he does love you, Kurai. Just give him a chance to prove it."

"I don't know, you know that males and females of his species don't stay together."

"Well there are always exceptions to the rule. Ko wouldn't have gone through everything he did just to have sex with you."

"I…I guess…you're right…" Kurai said. There was a lot to think about.

The two of them continued walking for awhile, following the directions given to them by a passing hunter, until they arrived at the indicated room. The doors of the room were decorated with carvings of swords and knives, and they were sure they were at the right place.

They looked at each other, nodded in unison, and knocked on the doors.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XII

"Enter, if you must." A voice said from the other side of the door. Kurai and Taki looked at each other as the doors opened to reveal the room ahead.

The place was less of a living quarters and more of an armory. Weapons of every kind were everywhere; swords of every shape and size, spears, combi-sticks, daggers and knives, several varieties of shurikens, fighting staves, clubs, and even what looked like a bow and arrows. The two humans looked around in awe at the impressive display. The walls were so covered with weapons and various pieces of armor that the trophies were almost invisible. There were a few small tables along the walls of the room, some with desk lamps on them. A number of weapons lay on these, some finished and some in various stages of completion.

"Guy loves his work." Taki muttered.

"Indeed I do." A deep voice said from a room up ahead. And then it spoke again. "Are you here to see me or to gawk at my weapons? Tell me what you want or leave and let me get back to my work!" The way he talked reminded her of her sensei back when she was training with her fans. The guy suffered no intrusion on his personal work, even by his students.

An exasperated sigh came from the yet unseen room, and in a minute a Yautja emerged.

The male was almost as tall as Ko, but his coloring was a deep grayish brown. He was older than Kantra but younger than Elder Yeyinde, with his dreadlocks tied in a ponytail with a piece of leather, and beginning to get grey streaks. He was wearing a leather apron, which reminded Kurai of one of the blacksmiths from the old days. On his hands, he was wearing large leather gloves, presumably to protect his hands while making some weapon or other. The most noticeable thing about him was the fact that he had a pretty noticeable limp. Kurai and Taki knew better than to stare at such things, so instead they got a good look at his face. He had bright green eyes, which reminded Kurai of those of a large cat.

"Are you Ne'Renh?" Taki asked.

"Who the pauk else would I be? I can see you're not too bright, Ooman." The large male said.

"Uh, yeah… well… We were sent here because we heard you make weapons-" Kurai said.

"Oh, really? No, I make delicious creamy cakes, they're all over the walls and on the tables, would you like one?" He said.

"Hey, we came here because we heard that you could make some weapons for our kiande amedha chiva! If you're going to be an asshole about it, we'll get stuff from the regular armory!" Kurai snapped.

"I," he said, "am one of the best weapon makers of the Yautja race, and you want to get your weapons from the armory? How dare you come here and insult me!"

"You started it, you jerk!" Kurai said.

"WHO CARES? Are you going to make us weapons or not?" Taki shouted. Kurai looked at her friend with raised eyebrows, he just shrugged and grinned awkwardly.

"Hm… what kind of weapons do you need made? I warn you; I won't make just any sword or knife. If you want to employ my talents, you had better show me something worthwhile. I've turned down Ancient, Arbitrators, and Elders, choosing instead to help Young Bloods with some degree of imagination. Do you think that I will be impressed by your Ooman arms? If not, you should turn around and leave, and I'll pretend I never met you. I'll give you a moment to decide what to do." His speech sounded like something out of the fantasy novels Kurai loved to read back on Earth.

He went back into his room, leaving Kurai and Taki to discuss his proposition. The two turned to look at each other, then around at the room. This guy could make some impressive weapons, of that there was no doubt, but would he make theirs? Ko had told her once that only when a Yautja passed their chiva could they use the special acid-proof weapons, or so it was in normal cases. He had told her that, in the case of her and Taki, an acid-proof weapon might be in order.

"So? Are we going to do this or not?" Taki asked.

"I don't know… what if he'll only make something for one of us? I…I'm sick of people treating us s damn differently, Taki!" Kurai said.

"Kurai, don't worry; I told you if he'll only make something for you, I'll get stuff at the armory. Besides, I don't mind." He said.

"Taki…" Kurai said sadly.

"Have you decided what you're going to do?" Ne'Renh asked, coming back into the room.

"Y-yeah; we're gonna give this a shot. But first, if you do decide to help us, about how long do you think it'll take?" Kurai asked.

"How long? HOW LONG? IT'LL TAKE AS LONG AS IT TAKES! DO YOU WANT QUICK WEAPONS OR DO YOU WANT GOOD WEAPONS? NOW TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT OR GET OUT!" He roared.

"FINE!" Kurai shouted back, Ne'Renh's eye ridges raised, and a very dark look crossed his face. Kurai thought that maybe she should have just shut up, and that now he wouldn't help them. She was preparing to be thrown out of the room, until…

"HA HA HA! I like you, Ooman! You've got attitude, unlike these stuffy types I'm used to dealing with! Come, show me what you want; I can make any blade you can imagine-not to brag, of course." He said. The two humans looked at each other before Kurai reached into her pouch for one of her fans.

"I don't know if you've ever seen one of these…" Kurai said, handing him the fan, which he took and walked over to one of the small tables to examine more closely.

"No, I haven't…" he said, sitting down in a chair and turning on a lamp. Reaching over, he grabbed something which turned out to be a very large and powerful magnifying lens.

"Incredible… I've seen Oomans use such things to keep themselves cool, but I've never seen one used in fighting… Exquisite craftsmanship…Amazing; it doesn't look like it could even be a threat…" he mused. He examined the fan at every angle, folding it and unfolding it, then asking Kurai to demonstrate a couple of basic moves. After almost forty-five minutes, stood and cleared his throat.

"Well, Ooman, I admit you've managed to impress me; congratulations. So, I'll give you a choice; I can either make you one of these fans or I can make you a Yautja weapon." He said.

"I'd like a fan…_if_ you can make one." Kurai said.

"Of course I can make one; all I need is to borrow one of yours to use as a blueprint. When is your kiande amedha chiva?"

"Less than six weeks." Kurai said.

"Plenty of time to make your weapon, Ooman. I'll even make you a deal; I'll make your fan from the special metal that can withstand kiande amedha blood, but only if you'll give me something in return." He said.

"What do you want? If you're going to ask me to sleep with you-" Kurai warned.

"WHAT? No! All I want is one of your fans; it'd be an incredible addition to my collection. Wait, who have you been talking to that asked you to sleep with them? Never mind; do we have a deal or not?"

"Just a minute." Kurai said, and turned to Taki.

"What do you think? Should I do it?" she asked.

"Well, you do love those fans, Kurai… and you spent a hell of a lot of money on them, but that won't matter when they're puddles from the Xenomorph blood. I say go for it; you're only giving him one, anyways." Taki said.

"Okay… you're right." She said. Walking over to Ne'Renh, she handed him one of the fans, which he then proceeded to unfold and place on his wall.

"There… It's in a place of honor among my best works. You look relieved; what did you think, that I'd just leave it in a box to collect dust? I always, _always_ respect good craftsmanship. Anyway, do you want me to make you something?" This last question was directed at Taki.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you could make me some of these." He produced his shurikens. Ne'Renh took the weapons and examined them.

"Well, while these are very well-made, they aren't really anything special. I'm sorry, but they don't interest me." He said, handing the shurikens back to Taki.

"Oh, okay." He said, and turned to leave.

"Hey, wait a minute! You've gotta make weapons for Taki! He's really good with the shurikens, he's got real talent!" Kurai said angrily.

"Oh, does he now? How about this; I'll make his weapons for him, and make them acid-resistant, but you, Ooman, have to help me with something." He said.

"What? Do you want another fan or something?" Kurai asked.

"No, but it's a nice offer. No, I am doing some…research on Ooman weaponry, and here the great Paya has blessed me in the form of two Oomans who obviously know their way around an armory. So here it is; if you help me with my research, I'll make your friend's weapons. Do we have a deal?" This guy knew how to get his way.

"Fine; but I really need to get to the kehrite, Ko's waiting for me there." Kurai said.

"All right; we have a deal. Go train, Ooman, and come back here in five days' time. I'll have both of your weapons ready. Oh, what about armor?"

"Taki and Kurai looked at each other. "Here we go again!" they both said.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XIII

"Armor?" Kurai asked, turning around slowly.

"Yes, armor; unless, of course, you want to face a hive of angry kiande amedha wearing nothing but your normal clothes? You'll need a mask, wristblades, an explosive, and a medi-comp, too; along with special mesh for underneath, both of you. I'll happily donate to your cause; for a price, of course." He said slyly.

"Of course." Taki said. "What do you want? We've already made you a pretty good deal on the weapons; won't that cover armor, too?"

"It _might_ have, if you'd asked about it when we were making that deal. Now you need to make another one, and I don't know _how_ you'll top the last one." Ne'Renh said.

"Oh, come _on_! We don't have any money!" Kurai said.

"Did I ask for any? No… I don't usually deal in money, anyway. Here's the deal, I'll make you the things you need, and they'll be damn good, too; but in return, you owe me a favor, each of you. I have the right to call in the favor at any time. I could ask you to do something as simple as clean my floors, or as hard as organizing and cleaning all my weapons. Do we have a deal?" he said all this nonchalantly, as if he'd made similar deals in the past.

"So… is there anything _else_ that you could make for us that you're waiting to spring on us?" Kurai asked.

"If there is, I'll let you know. Now come over here; I need your measurements."

The two of them spent the next half hour getting measured for their new armor and masks. While he worked, Ne'Renh explained the basic workings of the equipment; the wrist computer, the medi-comp, the mask, and gave them some tips on how to get the most out of the armor.

The two of them listened to the older Yautja talk, making sure that they took mental notes. Looking around, Kurai thought that any armor this guy made was sure to be good, judging by the high quality of his weapons. At last, he was finished, putting all the data into his own data pad and laying it aside.

"I can get started on your things now, but first I need for you to do one little thing for me." Ne'Renh said.

"What's that?" Taki asked.

"LEAVE!" He roared.

"What?" the two humans said together.

"To do my best work, I need absolute solitude. I can't stand it when people are around while I'm making things. Now GO!" He said, grabbing each one of them by the back of the neck and pushing them toward the door. They were pushed out into the hall and turned around just in time to see the doors close in their faces.

"Hey, let us back in!" Taki said.

"GO AWAY, OOMANS!" Ne'Renh said. They heard a clicking noise, which they realized was the door's automatic lock.

"What was _that_ about?" Kurai asked.

"Hell if I know… let's go eat food." Taki said.

"Can't; we gotta go and meet Ko in the kehrite." Kurai reminded her friend, who pouted.

"Come ooooon!" he whined. "I wanna get some foooooood!"

"Come on; we've only got a couple of hours of training before we can eat. We gotta get to the kehrite, though, or Ko will never let me forget it." Kurai said.

"Fine; but you owe me a cookie." Taki pouted, turning and started walking to the kehrite.

They arrived at the kehrite five minutes later to find Ko busy practicing with his combi-stick. The young male looked up as they entered the room.

"Ah, your back! How did it go?" he asked.

Taki went over and laid down on a bench while Kurai told Ko of their meeting with Ne'Renh. When she got to the part about him making their armor and equipment, his eyes grew large.

"I…I've never heard of him doing such a thing! Even some Arbitrators spend years trying to get a simple dagger from him, and here he is, making a full suit of armor and equipment for two Unblooded Oomans! Kurai, Paya must have smiled upon you from the day of your birth, you and Taki both! You owe Ne'Renh a great debt, never forget it!" He said at length, then proceeded to tell her that she should always take care of the armor and weapons, and make sure to mention him, if she ever gained real glory.

The sound of a door opening made them turn around to see none other than Elder Yeyinde. He was accompanied by a female, and Kurai was interested to learn that it was none other than Mila, the Blue Leaf Clan's Matriarch.

"Why, hello, Ooman… I was just talking to the Elder here when I heard the commotion coming from here. What is it that makes you so excited?" She said with a syrupy sweet tone.

"Oh, nothing." Kurai said, she didn't want to start anything with Mila now, not in front of Yeyinde; things were tense enough between them. The girl remembered that the two of them still had some business to attend to.

"Oh come on, Kurai!" Taki said, coming up behind her. He apparently hadn't got the hint. "We just got weapons and armor from Ne'Renh; this is a good day!" he said.

Though she would have preferred to keep the news quiet, Kurai was thoroughly thrilled to see the looks that crossed the faces of both Elder Yeyinde and Mila. The Elder's face showed a look of amazement and awe, while Mila's face was a dark cloud of fury and jealousy. That look turned to a false look of happiness when Yeyinde turned to her.

"Quiet…impressive. What do you think of this, Mila?" he asked. If Ko was right in what he had said about how picky Yautja females were, then the Elder probably wouldn't want to make Mila angry if he could help it. The female's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, Kurai! You're so lucky; Ne'Renh is so picky about who he makes things for! I hear that he doesn't take money most of the time; just favors… I wonder what kind of favors _you_ did for him, Kurai?" she said, and her voice was like sour honey.

Elder Yeyinde and Ko both looked at her, and Kurai had a sneaking suspicion that they were both thinking the same thing.

"What are you implying?" Kurai asked sweetly. She could be just as bitchy as Mila could.

"Oh, nothing, of course! Just that some females use certain…tactics to get what they want. Ne'Renh is famous for his unwillingness to make weapons for others, and it's a well-known fact that he hasn't…been with a female in quite some time. It just seems like any whore with a notion can pose as a proper huntress these days." Mila said. The two males were beginning to sense the tension and were slowly backing away. The two females were slowly beginning to circle each other.

"Okay, that's it; you want to fight, let's go! I'll kick your ass!" Kurai yelled.

"You can try! I'll love putting you in your rightful place; your grave!" Mila roared.

They had made it into the middle of the kehrite. Ko, Yeyinde, and Taki all looked on as the two females stopped circling each other, then charged.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XIV

Kurai and Mila met each other in midair. Kurai had already drawn her fan and was slashing at Mila like a madwoman. This wasn't just some catfight; it was life and death. Kurai knew that, although she really didn't want to kill anyone, the other female wasn't going to show her the same courtesy.

Mila had a small dagger on her person, which she was using to slash at Kurai, returning every blow. Luck must have been on Kurai's side; for the female's blade didn't land many hits, and the ones she did land weren't deep.

_"She's too full of rage to concentrate properly."_ Kurai thought. She had learned a long time ago that rage, while occasionally making one physically stronger, made one think illogically.

They kept fighting for another five minutes with nothing significant happening, until Mila managed to catch Kurai by the wrist. Smiling triumphantly, she lifted the girl into the air.

"If you surrender right now, I might be persuaded to let you live…minus your arm." The Matriarch hissed in Kurai's ear.

"Eat shit and die, bitch!" Kurai said, then swung her foot around, catching Mila in the back of the head. The female howled in rage and pain, dropping to her hands and knees and letting the girl drop to the floor in a crouching position. Standing again, Kurai drop-kicked Mila under her chin, making her head snap back and causing her to fall over onto her back. The dagger flew from her hand and landed a few feet away.

"Now, if you surrender right now, I'll let you live." Kurai said. She meant it too; she may have been living in a rather cruel society, but she wasn't going to let it harden her heart to the point that Mila had.

"Pauking Ooman!" Mila screamed, flipping back onto her feet with a grace unthinkable for her size. Quicker than Kurai could have thought possible, the Yautja rushed across the room and retrieved her knife. Weapon in hand, Mila rushed at her enemy again.

Kurai was ready for this, and was able to partially deflect the blow with her fan, but Yautja were far stronger than humans, and the force of the impact sent the girl flying back about ten feet. She landed on her feet, however, and was ready for battle in a moment.

Mila, however, was very fast, and was upon her in a matter of seconds, giving Kurai barely a moment to regain her stance before being hit by what felt like a brick wall. Flying back again, Kurai was able to get her bearing more quickly this time, managing to dodge Mila's next blow. Jumping up, the human kicked the Yautja's chest, sending her back, but only a few feet.

_"Damn; she's tougher than I thought!"_ Kurai thought to herself, watching as the Matriarch recovered.

"You had your chance, Ooman! I could have taken just your arm, but now I'll take your life!" Mila roared, before reaching down into her boot and bringing out another dagger.

"Normally I wouldn't use two daggers, but for you, I'll make an exception!" the female growled.

"I'm flattered!" Kurai snarled. Reaching down, she felt for her other fan, but it wasn't there.

"Where?! Ne'Renh! I gave my fan to Ne'Renh earlier!" she thought frantically. She didn't have much time to think, however, as Mila ran by, aiming her left dagger at Kurai's throat. The girl was able to dodge the potential blow, but received a light cut on her neck. The warm sensation of blood flowing down her neck made Kurai that much more aware of the severity of the situation.

"Must take care not to scar your skin too badly; I think I'll make a wall hanging with it. Stand still; don't want to get too much blood on the hide!" Mila sneered.

"I don't think so; I prefer my skin _on_ my body, thanks!" Kurai said.

"Then we, Ooman, have a difference of opinion!"

The two of them ran toward each other again, this time though, Kurai really was intent on killing the other female. Something, somewhere in the deepest recesses of her mind snapped to action, telling her that there was no other option; she had to kill Mila.

_"There's no other way; no other choice."_ She thought to herself.

"Sighing sadly, she got into a stance, one that her sensei said was only to be used if she truly wanted to kill her opponents. She had never really used this stance before, not even on Krybe.

"What's with the new stance? Trying a new technique, Ooman? Do what you wish; I'll end up killing you in the end, anyway." Mila said offhandedly.

"We'll see." Kurai said, a little sadly.

Mila and Kurai charged at each other one last time. This blow would be the last one, the deciding factor in this battle. Mila's held her daggers out in front of her, clearly intending on skewering her alive. Kurai reared back with her fan, aiming it just right.

Mila and Kurai were barely a foot away from each other when Kurai acted upon her plan. Striking out with her foot with all her strength, Kurai gave a devastating kick to Mila's chest. While the female was doubled over in pain and surprise, Kurai went in for the kill.

Striking with her fan, Kurai closed her eyes as the weapon cut deep into Mila's throat. Neon green blood sprayed from the wound, covering Kurai and a good portion of the floor in the glowing green fluid.

"O-Ooman… I'll die here today… B-But I'll take y-you with m-me!" Mila coughed, blood flowing freely from her mouth.

"Wha-ah!" Kurai gasped as she felt an intense pain in her chest. Looking down, she saw that Mila had made an attempt to stab her, but in her weakened state, had only managed to drag the sharp blade painfully across her chest. Crimson blood flowed from her own wound, mixing with Mila's and making a sickly brownish color.

Seeing that Kurai wasn't going to die from the wound, Mila gave a small, almost silent, whimper, her eyes going wide. Falling back from the half-sitting position, Mila landed on her back on the floor, coughing for a moment, then stopped breathing.

Roars from the benches in the room made Kurai's head jerk up suddenly. Looking around, she saw that there were a lot more people than there were before. Most of them were females; obviously they had heard about this from someone and had come to see their Matriarch fight the human.

Ko and Taki came running out into the middle of the room, and the former picked Kurai up and began to carry her off, presumably to the medical bay.

"Oh, shit! Run faster, Ko; we've gotta get her to the medical bay, quick!" Taki's voice could be heard next to her.

"No pauk, Taki!" Ko said irritably, then began to run faster.

Kurai got closer to Ko, enjoying the feeling of his warm chest. She was feeling a little dizzy, not to mention being exhausted from the fight. Closing her eyes, she let herself drift into unconsciousness.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XV

Kurai woke in the medical bay's bed for the second time that month. The pain in her chest from Mila's dagger was gone, replaced by slightly cool sensation.

Opening her eyes, she saw something in front of her face that was too close to focus on. Instinct taking over, she quickly reached up and landed a punch to the thing. A gasping sound followed immediately after, and the thing vanished from view. Taki's voice floated to her from her left.

"I _told_ you that was a bad idea; she's done that to me a couple of times." He said offhandedly.

"What's going on?" Kurai asked, then realized what a stupid question that was; she was in the medical bay after being nearly filleted by Mila after their fight.

_**Ko had rushed to pick up Kurai after the fight was over, cursing both himself and her for the whole thing. Gently getting her into his arms, he ran at top speed to the medical bay, with Taki following close behind him.**_

_**When they had gotten there, Ko had handed his charge off to a healer, who looked at him as if to say "Again?" He'd been forced to wait for nearly thirty minutes while Kurai had been stitched up and bandaged, while Taki sat nervously in a chair in the corner, not saying anything, but keeping Kurai's ribbon, which had had to be taken off again, clenched tightly in his hand. **_

_**At last, the healer had come out, the front of his uniform bearing a few smears of bright crimson, and gave them the news; Kurai would be fine, but she needed a day or two of rest and to keep her wound clean and dry. The healer had advised that no more training should occur for about a week, making the idea of a successful kiande amedha chiva seem that much more distant in Ko's mind.**_

_**"Without that training, there's no way she'll be ready in time for her chiva! The two of them were taking a big risk with the six weeks they already had, and Elder Yeyinde can't just push back a trial!" Ko said desperately. **_

_**"I'm sorry, but there's no other way; if she trains now, she could end up working her stitches out; and none of us want that. We've given her some of our medications, and they'll speed up the healing tenfold, but she needs rest now." The medic said, he was beginning to get a little impatient.**_

_**"Fine; can we at least see her?" Ko said in exasperation. **_

_**"Very well, the drugs should be wearing off; we had to put her under to treat her wound." With this, the medic led them to a door, which they went through to find Kurai asleep on a large hospital bed.**_

_**Ko went over and looked at Kurai sleeping; she looked so peaceful… He didn't know why, but he began to lean closer to her; her smell was so nice…**_

_**"I wouldn't do that if I were you; she has a tendency to-" Taki had been trying to warn him, but it was too late.**_

_**Faster than he could have ever thought possible, Kurai raised a fist and landed a crashing blow… right to Ko's throat.**_

_**Gasping, he fell to the floor, while Taki tried to restrain himself from laughing.**_

_**""I told you that was a bad idea; she's done that to me a couple of times." The Ooman giggled, as Ko picked himself up off the floor, still holding his throat.**_

_**"Why does she do that?" the Yautja asked, rubbing his neck.**_

_**"Beats me; I guess seeing someone standing so close when you wake up will make you react like that. Let her wake up, then try to get close." Taki advised.**_

_**"What's going on?" Kurai asked sleepily.**_

Ko and Taki began to tell her what had happened up till that point, while Taki handed Kurai her ribbon back. The girl looked over and apologized to Ko for punching him, but he waved her apology away.

"So… what now?" Kurai asked. She wondered what would happen since she killed Mila. The Blue Leaf Clan would be without a Matriarch for awhile, that was for sure, and she didn't know if she was in trouble for the fight or not.

"Now I'll take over." Another voice said from the doorway. Turning her head, Kurai could make out Elder Yeyinde standing there with his arms crossed.

The Elder came striding over to the bedridden human, an unclear look on his face. Kurai wondered if she was going to be punished, and if so, what that punishment would be.

"Kurai, you know that you killed the Blue Leaf Clan's Matriarch?" he asked.

"Yeah, but It's not like she didn't have it coming; starting something like she did!" Taki said from his chair.

"Silence, Ooman! I'm talking to Kurai!" Yeyinde snapped, Taki sat back down without another word.

"You know, if it had been any other circumstance, you would have been in a lot of trouble; but you were fighting for honor, and so I can't punish you. Let it be known, however, that I won't stand for you picking fights with people just because you don't like them, understand?" he said.

"What do you mean by that, Elder?" Kurai asked.

"Mila told me, to some degree, about your conversation in her chambers, and the events leading up to it. I'm very disappointed that you spoke in such a rude way to a Matriarch; you'll do well to learn respect."

"Hey, I would have shown her plenty of respect, if she'd have done anything about her females insulting Ko the way they were!" Kurai burst out.

"You don't have any right to tell a Matriarch how to treat her females; let alone insult her! You may have gotten away with such disrespect on Earth, but here you will learn, is that clear? I'm tired of your smart attitude, Kurai! I've seen your abilities, and they are impressive, but your arrogance and assumptions that you don't have to follow the rules are beginning to make me rethink letting the both of you stay here! If you don't shape up, I'll have to punish you next time, and after that…"

"What? What happens after that?" Kurai asked.

"After that you'll be declared a Bad Blood, Kurai." Ko said quietly.

"Right… And remember; I'm and Elder, which means that I have full authority to kill you if that happens." Yeyinde warned. "And don't think I'll hesitate to do it, either." He concluded darkly.

With this, he turned and took his leave, moving aside for a female who had come to the door.

"Oh, great, what now?" Kurai said.

The female got closer, and Kurai soon saw that it was the same young one with the unbraided hair from before. She approached the bed, head strangely bowed, and spoke.

"You…Your name is Kurai, yes?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, why?"

"I am here to inform you that, because you challenged our Matriarch to and defeated her in battle, you are now our new leader." She said.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XVI

"Heh?" Kurai said, there was no other way to put it.

"You, Kurai, are the new Matriarch of the Blue Leaf Clan." The young female said. She looked at Kurai through lowered eyes, very different from the glances and glares she'd gotten from a lot of Yautja since she'd come here.

"As leader, it's your duty to make sure that the Clan is safe and prosperous; as much as it can be, anyway… Ahem… You will be responsible for making sure that all of the females get along, relatively speaking, that the males that seek us out are worthy, and for keeping the Clan safe from other female clans and Bad Bloods. You'll have the honor of getting first choice of mates, should you wish for them, and the best food when it comes time to hunt it. Your children, should you ever have any, will be treated with respect by all the other females and pups of our clan. The rest will be explained to you once we are aboard the ship. We will be leaving tomorrow." With this, she turned to leave.

"W-wait, tomorrow?" Elder Yeyinde said. They all turned to see the Elder male standing in the doorway. He had been about to leave, but had apparently stayed to see what the young female wanted with Kurai.

"Yes, tomorrow. Because of the events that took place earlier, we have decided to take our leave early. All of the females have agreed that it would be best for everyone if we departed. Please have your things packed and ready when we leave." The young female said, in a very official tone.

"What's your name, kid?" Kurai asked.

"My name is Maia, and I am fourteen years old, which is most certainly _not_ a child!" she said, finally acting her age.

"Well Maia; tell your clan that they can leave without me. I'm not even Blooded yet; I can't possibly be a good leader to you." Kurai said.

"N-not coming? You _have_ to come! You killed our Matriarch, which means you're the new one! It'll dishonor our clan if you refuse!" Maia cried.

"Sorry; but I just can't; can't you get someone else?" Kurai asked.

"No! We can't just go around letting people be leader; they either have to earn that honor themselves or be appointed by the former Matriarch!" Maia informed her.

"Okay then; I appoint…you. Congratulations; have a happy life." Kurai said simply.

"No! You can't appoint me! Look; there are very specific conditions when appointing a new Matriarch; you can't just pick someone from a crowd." Maia said.

"So how do I go about picking someone? What are the rules?" Kurai asked. Though it would mean a pretty high position for her, she didn't want the pressure of running an entire clan. The thought of all those people's lives being in her care made her nervous.

"Well, for one, you have to be of mating age." Maia said.

"Which is twenty, right? Because I'm only nineteen." Kurai asked. Maia nodded.

"I looked that up; you are old enough in Ooman terms."

"Fine; what next?"

"You normally have to have had at least one live pup."

"Well, I can't have children, so I guess that means I'm out." Kurai said.

"No it doesn't; you have to have one pup to be _appointed_ by the Matriarch, but not if you kill her in battle." Maia informed her.

"Crap; what else?"

"Well… you can't have committed any major crimes; murder, impersonating an Elder, that sort of thing."

"Gotta admit; I've never done anything like that."

"Then there's no way out of it; either you can go through the list of eligible females before tomorrow, come with us and be our Matriarch, or refuse and have us leave in disgrace. It's your choice, Kurai." The female said sternly.

"Wait; if I can interview those eligible females you spoke of, and if I find one worthy, can she become Matriarch before tomorrow?" Kurai asked. It was a small loophole, but it was worth a shot.

"Yes, but you're looking at about fifteen females; you'll have to check out the background of each one of them, and then talk to them personally."

"Can you get me a list and records of those females?" Kurai asked.

"Yes; but it'll take a couple of hours." Maia said thoughtfully.

"Fine; I'll be up all night anyway." Kurai said determinedly.

The young female gave her an amazed look, before shrugging and walking off. Elder Yeyinde, who had been quiet for some time, turned to Kurai.

"Are you insane? You have the opportunity to become a Matriarch! Even I'd have to respect you if you took the position! You wouldn't have to go through your chiva or lift a finger ever again!" he said.

"Exactly; it would be the same kind of life I had on Earth. Everything done for me, nothing really expected of me, nothing to do but sit around and look important… I hated it there and I'd hate it here. I didn't come with Ko because I thought I'd have it easy; I came because this life affords me challenges that I'd never face on Earth." Kurai explained defiantly.

"I understand you now; you've always been thought of as a sort of…trophy…never doing anything, just sitting there for people to admire and envy. You want honor, and that can only come from giving up your old life and choosing this one…I respect you, Kurai." Elder Yeyinde said thoughtfully. Giving her a little bow, he walked out of the room.

Ko looked at Kurai, and Taki suddenly spoke up.

"Well… I'll be getting to the dining hall. I bet Kantra earlier that he couldn't drink a tankard of C'ntlip without setting it down once. Oh, here, Kurai." He walked over and handed her ribbon to her. She put it on, and Taki walked out of the room, muttering something about the two of them needing alone time.

"You've certainly gotten some attention today, Kurai." Ko said, once Taki was out of sight.

"Yeah, but I wish I hadn't… and soon I'll be up all night, interviewing females to take over for me." The girl said, laying back in the bed.

"I'll help you, if you want; I like spending time with you, Kurai."

"Thanks, Ko. I hope I find someone; I'm sure as hell not going back with your clan, you know. They don't exactly seem too friendly."

"Only to you and me; they got along fine with one another." Ko said, acting as though he was remembering his past.

"Anyways, I'm going to get a couple of hours sleep before Maia comes back with those records. You can go watch Taki and Kantra if you want."

"No; I'd much rather stay with you, Kurai." Ko said.

_"He's so…sweet…sometimes."_ Kurai thought to herself as she lay down and began to relax. Ko sat in chair and leaned back, clearly intent on getting some rest himself.

Ko occupied Kurai's thoughts as she began to drift off, making for some interesting dreams.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XVII

Three hours later, Kurai had been awakened and was now in the process of looking through the records. Two of the females weren't of age yet, another three were of age but had no pups. None of them had any major criminal offenses, so that left ten for her to interview. Kurai wondered how she was going to choose an adequate leader from ten total strangers. Kurai was still laying in the hospital bed, and Ko and Taki were there to advise her. Even Elder Yeyinde was there, but whether it was to help Kurai or to check out the females was unclear.

_"Maybe I'll just draw names from a hat…"_ She thought to herself laughingly.

Sooner than she had hoped, it was time for the females to come in for interviewing. They were told to wait in the medical bay's waiting room, and would be called in one at a time.

The first one was a dark brown one wearing reddish-brown clothes and with small skulls adorning her hair.

"What is your name?" Kurai asked.

"Ryumi." She replied simply.

"I assume you've been told why you're here. So let's cut to the chase; why do you think that you should be chosen as Matriarch?"

"Well, aside from the basic qualifications, I have led a few hunting parties, I've hunted kiande amedha before, and I know how to organize events and how to find information on other clans." She said.

"All right; go out into the waiting room and I'll let you know when I'm done with the interviews." Kurai said.

"Not a lot of information to go on." Yeyinde muttered when the female was out of earshot.

"Come on; not everyone is a born leader, you know." Taki said.

Eight more interviews went in a very similar direction. All of the females were pretty qualified, but none of them really had anything that set them apart. Between interviews, Ko told Kurai that, although he was no longer a part of the Blue Leaf, they were still technically his family, and he did want to at least honor his mother by helping to choose a good leader.

It was nearly three hours later and Kurai was down to the last interview. It had gone pretty good so far, but Kurai wasn't really wowed by the females.

The last female came into the room, and Kurai looked up from her data pad.

This one was dressed in a long black skirt and matching tube top that made Kurai wish that she had more than an A-cup. Her hair was down to her knees, and done in silver bands and pulled back with a thin black scarf-thing. Her coloring was interesting; light grey with dark black spots, and deep grey eyes. She carried herself with a particularly noble air, which Kurai found interesting.

"My name is Lida." She announced, not waiting for Kurai to speak first. "I assume you have read my records and found everything to be in order, yes?" she said.

The Elder gave a little purr, and the female shot him a vicious look. He stopped immediately and lowered his head.

"Uh, yeah… Oh, it says here that you're not originally from the Blue Leaf?" Kurai said, looking first at the Elder and then down to study the information on the data pad..

"Correct; I had a…friend…who was part of the clan. I joined the Blue leaf to live closer to her, and when she died I stayed on. Any more questions?" She didn't seem like the type of person to make small talk.

"N-no, it's just that… well, these records are mostly from the Blue Leaf, and I have none of you before that."

"I'll make it simple for you, Ooman. I am two hundred of your years old, I have one daughter, who is back in my clan, the Three Winds. I have never been accused of any crimes, and my mother was the leader of my clan. I have some experience in leading, as I was forced to stand in for my mother for a month when she was sick, and I was only sixteen at the time. I have some experience in diplomacy and negotiation, as well as some knowledge of how to deal with situations involving Bad Bloods, as my father and brother are both Arbitrators. Is that sufficient information for you, Ooman?"

"Yeah, I think so, what about you, Ko?" Kurai said. She had to admit that she was impressed with the female's list of accomplishments. She seemed as though she would make a great leader. Setting the data pad aside for a moment, she addressed the female again.

"I think she's quite qualified for the position." Ko said.

"Yes, but there is one small issue that you've overlooked, Kurai." Elder Yeyinde said.

"Isn't there always? What is it?" Kurai sighed.

"The problem is this; the female is certainly qualified for the job, but she isn't originally from the Blue Leaf Clan. I don't know the rules of your clan, but I'm sure there are some guidelines pertaining to the issue. I'd check the clan's rules before announcing anything." Elder Yeyinde said.

"He's got a point, you know; we can't just appoint her, we have to check the rules or we could end up worse off than we were before." Taki said.

"Fine! Let's find those rules and make sure this thing will work." Kurai said, then turned her attention back to Lida, who had been listening quietly.

"You might have to wait awhile; I need to find someone who knows the rules of the Blue Leaf." Kurai said.

"What about you, Ko?" Yeyinde asked, and all heads turned to the young male.

"I'd be happy to, but I really don't know the rules. Firstly, I'm a male, which means that the rules of the females are none of my concern. Second, they really didn't take the time to explain too many things to me." Ko said.

"Very well, I understand." Lida said, nodding in acknowledgment.

"Taki, could you get Maia for me please?" Kurai asked.

"Of course; I think she's in the waiting room." Taki said, rising from his chair and making his way to the door. He left, and in a couple of minutes he returned, along with Maia, who was looking a little confused.

"Maia, you seem to know the Blue Leaf's rules, right?" Kurai asked.

"Yes, I had a lot of free time during my childhood, and I made it a point to learn many things, and the rules of our clan were among them. I know pretty much every rule, condition and guideline of the Blue Leaf Clan." The female said.

"Okay then; is there anything saying that a female who doesn't come from your clan can lead it?" Kurai asked.

Maia thought for a few minutes, then spoke.

"Yes, there is one condition; if the female who wants to lead our clan has lived amongst us for at least one lunar year, and has committed no crimes of any kind, she may be appointed as Matriarch. The conditions that I told you about before still apply." Maia informed them.

"Lida, have you lived among the Blue Leaf Clan for a lunar year?" Kurai asked.

"Yes; in fact, I've been living there for nearly five years since my friend died." Lida said.

"She has, I've talked to her a few times over the years." Maia said. "And I don't know of any crimes she committed."

"Well then, I suppose it's final; you're the new leader of the Blue Leaf Clan. Congratulations, Lida." Kurai said.

"Thank you; I will be a fair and responsible leader." Lida said, bowing her head. Rising, she turned and walked out of the room.

"Those other females are gonna be so pissed when they find out that she's gonna lead. It's not bad enough that they're losing a prime opportunity, but they're losing it to a female that's not even of their clan." Taki said.

"Yeah, maybe, but they'll get over it in time. They probably wouldn't be to keen on having a human for a leader, anyway." Kurai said. Taki nodded, along with the rest of the people in the room.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

**Sorry for the wait; my professors are piling on the work and its kicking my ass majorly. I'll try to write as much as I can, but I can't promise a new chapter every day.**

Chapter XVIII

The next day, Kurai was finally allowed to leave the medical bay, but with some protest from Ko. Taki had gone to practice his shurikens with Dto and some other males, leaving Ko and Kurai alone together. The two of them were sitting at a table in the lounge, when Kurai spotted Maia coming into the room. The young female sat quietly at the back of the room, away from the other females of her clan, who were trying to find suitable mates before they had to leave.

"Poor kid; she doesn't seem to have any friends…" Kurai muttered.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen her with any other females since she got here. Anyway, let's go; we can start training with some small moves, I don't want you hurting yourself." He said, the last bit was said with a small purr.

"You go on; I'm gonna go over and talk to her, she looks so sad…" Kurai said. Ko gave an exasperated little growl/sigh and walked out of the room, pausing to grab his combi-stick from the table.

Kurai walked over to where Maia was sitting and looked at her for a moment. She seemed to be a little depressed today, but then again, she wasn't exactly cheerful before. Kurai began to wonder what exactly was wrong with this one.

"Maia? Are you all right?" Kurai asked. The younger female looked up at the human and gave a rather sad little smile.

"I'm…I'm fine. How are you, Kurai?" she said quietly. For some reason, it looked as though Maia had been crying.

"I'm okay, but what's wrong? You should be happy; Mila's gone and Lida will be your leader now. I think she'll be a far better Matriarch than that stuck-up witch." Kurai said, by way of trying to cheer Maia up.

"I suppose, but I will miss her."

"Because she was your Matriarch?" Kurai asked.

"Because she was my mother." Maia said simply.

Kurai's throat went dry. "Wha-What? She was your…mother? She never seemed to act like it…" Kurai whispered. She couldn't believe this; she had killed Maia's mother, and then she had rejected the position of Matriarch, effectively insulting her memory, and then she had actually asked Maia to help in finding a replacement…and to top it all off, there were all the horrible things she'd said about Mila! Maia surely must have hated her by now.

"She didn't act like it for a reason. Do you remember what I said about how a female needs one living pup to become Matriarch?" Maia asked.

"Yeah, but I was a special exception or something, right?" Kurai said, sitting down across from the younger female.

"Well, I was the pup she needed. She wanted the position ever since her cousin earned it, and all she needed to fit the criteria was one pup. After I was born and the previous Matriarch died, my mother took the position, and I was given to her assistants."

"Oh…Maia…" Kurai said. She couldn't imagine being born because someone needed here to inherit a title. What a sad way to live, and a sad thing to find out. What must her life had been like, knowing these things?

"It's all right; I've known about this for a long time, and I came to terms with it long ago." Maia said.

"But you still miss her." Kurai said, and the Yautja nodded.

"She may not have been a good one, but she was my mother; she gave me life, and for that I must always be grateful. I can only hope that Matriarch Lida won't look too unkindly upon me."

"What do you mean?" Kurai asked.

"Well, sometimes when a new Matriarch comes along, the younger pups of the previous one are made outcasts. They are no longer children of privilege, not that I was, exactly; but it was still better than living on the streets." Maia admitted.

"Would you feel better if spoke to Matriarch Lida about this? She's from another clan, so she might have different rules than yours."

"I don't know…I really don't know Lida-_Matriarch_ Lida-very well. All I do know was that she came to our clan a few years back to stay with one of our females." The female admitted.

"She did say that she came to stay with a friend." Kurai mused.

"Yes, a very good friend." Maia said quietly.

"Very good… OH MY GOD!" Kurai said. "You mean she's…?"

"Yes, she is. Do you find it distasteful?" Maia asked, looking at the human curiously.

"N-No, it's not that, it's just…I didn't even know you had that here! But…she said she had daughter!" Kurai said quickly.

"She does; I've seen her once when she came to visit her mother and her partner, she's very attractive. Anyway, she likely only mated with a male to get her daughter; she's never shown any interest in any of the hunters that came to our clan since she's been there."

"Learn something new every day." Kurai mumbled to herself.

"I must go pack now; we'll be leaving within the hour. Farewell, Ooman Kurai; I do hope we meet again." With this, Maia stood, bowed to Kurai, and left the room, leaving Kurai to mull over what she'd just learned.

_"I gotta go see Lida about Maia; the kid doesn't deserve to be pushed aside like that."_ Kurai said to herself. Rising, she headed out of the room in search of some females who might know where their new leader was.

It took ten minutes, but Kurai finally learned from a passing female that Matriarch Lida was in her-formerly Mila's-room. Pausing for a moment to remember the location of said room, she headed there quickly.

At last she reached the doors to the room and knocked. "Enter." Lida said from somewhere within. Kurai stood back as the doors opened, then walked in. The place was exactly the same, save for a small pile of luggage by the door.

"Lida, can I talk to you about something important?" Kurai called, not knowing where exactly the female was.

"Of course, Kurai." Came the female's voice form off to her left. The Yautja had been in another room, presumably packing, judging by the luggage bag in her hand. She walked over and sat the bag on top of the pile, then lead Kurai to another room with a couple of very comfortable-looking couches. Kurai wondered how much she'd have to hunt before she got anything close to this place.

"What do you wish to speak about?" Lida asked, sitting on one couch while Kurai sat on another.

"It's about Maia; she's worried that when you get home, you'll cast her out into the streets. I was hoping that her fears would be proven untrue?" Kurai said hopefully.

"Well, of course I won't cast her out; why would I?" Lida asked.

"Because she's Mila's daughter." Kurai said.

"Is she? I always wondered where Mila's pup was; I assumed it was a male who went off to hunt, but I never thought that Maia was… Still, I won't kick her out into the streets; that's not how things were done in my clan." Lida assured Kurai.

Kurai was going to speak again, but a large computer screen suddenly came down from the ceiling, then a female came on the screen.

"Matriarch Lida; we'll be leaving shortly, shall I send someone to get your things?" she asked.

"Very well, thank you." Lida said, and the computer screen went back up into the ceiling. In a moment, two males were admitted. They picked up Lida's bags and bowed, before heading out the door, presumably to the Blue Leaf's ship.

"Better head to the ship; it wouldn't do to be left here when I'm needed as Matriarch." Lida said, rising. Kurai followed suite and began walking with the older female to the docking bay.

"It's very refreshing to see a female who cares about what happens to the offspring of he rival."Lida said as they walked. "You know, you would have made a fine leader, Kurai."

They were in sight of the docking bay, and there was a large crowd of females heading into the ship. None of them were looking in the direction of the human and Yautja headed their way. Kurai was about to say goodbye to Lida, when the female suddenly reached out and grabbed her.

Lida quickly got Kurai into a small niche in the ship's wall, and did something the girl would have never expected in a hundred years.

Lunging forward, Lida spread her mandibles and kissed Kurai with a ferocity that the girl could have never have expected. She was aggressive, but strangely not rough, as she gently caressed Kurai up and down in a much more experienced way than Ko had. The larger female was rumbling deeply as her mandibles caressed Kurai 's face.

This lasted almost two minutes with Kurai not sure what to do, before Lida broke away, leaving the human breathless and leaning against the wall. Lida wiped her mouth and smiled, before turning and heading back to the docking bay with the other females, who were almost all boarded by now.

"Goodbye, Ooman; I can't wait to see you again…when we have more time to…get acquainted." She said, waving over her shoulder at the human staring after her. In a moment, she, too was on the ship. The engines started, and a group of males who had come to watch the females depart had the good sense to get back before they were fried.

Kurai watched the ship take off, then composed herself before heading off to join Ko in the training room.

"You look out of breath, Kurai; what happened?" Ko asked, coming over to her.

"Oh, nothing; don't even worry about it. Come on; let's get some training done!" Kurai said, flicking open her fan.

Ko looked as though he wanted to speak again, but just shrugged and got into a stance.


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XIX

The next day, Kurai and Taki were sitting in Kurai's room and talking. Kurai had told Taki about what had happened between her and Lida.

"Heh?" he said, looking up from where he was polishing his shurikens.

"You heard me; she just grabbed me and kissed me." Kurai repeated, giving her fan a few flicks.

"And…you liked it…?" he asked, looking at his friend.

"Well, I'll admit that it wasn't bad, but I'm just not…into that, you know?"

"Yeah yeah…you know, you never try new things, Kurai. Anyway, have you told Ko yet?" Taki asked, holding one of his shurikens up to the light.

"I can't tell Ko; we're taking things slowly as it is, if he finds out that another female kissed me, he might be so self-conscious that he won't even want to attempt anything any more!" Kurai said.

"Slowly? Come on, Kurai! Slowly implies that you're getting somewhere, but I haven't noticed anything new going on between the two of you since that kiss! You never did go out on that date you were talking about, did you?"

"Well…there was the fight with Zazin, then I landed in the medical bay, then the females came here…I…there's been a lot going on lately, Taki!"

"Kurai, Ko's waited patiently for all this time, the least you could do is devote one evening to him. You train all day and at night you read up on Yautja culture, I think you could stand a break; don't you?" her friend said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I guess so…but what would we do? I've never even been on a date with a human; let alone a Yautja. What if I say something stupid, what if I do something stupid, what if Ko wants to…you know?"

"You're making excuses again, Kurai. Look, just don't stress about it; for one, Ko's never been on a date either, and he doesn't seem like the kind of person who would try to pressure you into anything. He'll probably be as nervous as you are."

Taki got up to go to the training room, leaving Kurai alone with her thoughts. It was true that a lot of things had been going on as of late, but Taki was right; she really could have made some effort to be alone with Ko. Heavens knew he's been patient about the whole thing; he'd never mentioned it again, but still…

Sighing, she laid down her fan and walked over to the door and pushed the button to open it. Making sure the door locked, she then turned and walked in the direction of Ko's room, hoping that he'd be there.

Meanwhile…

**Ko was cleaning his armor, weapons and mask, making sure to get as many of the scratches out as he could. The idea was to make it presentable, but not to make it shine. To do so would be to stand out, which was the exact opposite of what most hunters wanted. While he worked, his thoughts kept drifting back to Kurai. He had just finished with his mask and had put it away, and was now getting up to go get his combi-stick from its place on the far wall. He sighed to himself when he saw that the weapon was already getting dusty.**

**Over the past few weeks, he felt as though he would like to get closer to her, but she kept him at a distance. The kiss they'd shared was wonderful, but he wanted to build on it. It was always on his mind to just grab Kurai and tell her everything he felt about her, but that was just not the way males were supposed to do things. He'd have to wait until Kurai made a move…and if she didn't…**

**It was more frustrating than he'd ever imagined, and that was before mating season! Now all he could think of was Kurai, and those thoughts were getting less innocent as the days went by. These thoughts floated into his mind again, making him purr loudly as he continued to work. **

**A knock at the door interrupted a particularly intriguing fantasy, and Ko sighed as he got up to answer. His amber eyes widened when he saw none other than Kurai standing on the other side. A little purr escaped him, and his face burned as he hoped the Ooman hadn't heard it. **

**"Hey, Ko…how're things?" she asked, putting her arm behind her head, as though nervous.**

**"Oh, all right…I just... Look; we need to talk, can I come in?" she asked, biting her lower lip in a way that made him want to purr more.**

**"Of…of course! Come in; I was just about to start polishing my combi-stick; you'd be amazed how dusty it gets if you leave it alone for too long. A male needs to attend to his combi-stick regularly." He said, leaning against the door frame**

**"Oh? Do I need to give you some alone time?" Kurai asked, her eyebrows raised. **

**Ko suddenly realized what he'd just said, and his jaw dropped. "Oh…Paya…" he said, feeling as though his face was on fire. **

**"Come in…" Ko said quietly, wishing that he could be absolutely anywhere but here.**

**Kurai smiled as she walked into Ko's room, noticing that the male was indeed in the process of cleaning his weapons. The place had been clean the last time she'd been in it, but now there were various pieces of weapons and other Yautja tech laying on most of the surfaces in the room. Ko brought out a chair for her to sit on, while he picked up his wristblades from the bed and laid them on a nearby table before sitting down himself. **

**"So Kurai, to what end did you come here?" Ko asked.**

**"Well Ko…I actually came to talk about…us." She said, looking at him a little shyly.**

**"Us? I don't understand, Kurai; what about us?" Ko asked, confused.**

**"I…um…I want there to be an us. I realized that I…like you, and I want to try to make it work if you do. I know that I've been kind of…well…distant lately, and I'm sorry, but the truth is…I've never felt like this about anyone, and I'm not sure that I wouldn't make a fool of myself if we were to go out together. So that's it…I'm afraid of making an idiot of myself in front of you. Laugh if you must." Kurai said, bracing herself.**

**"Kurai, I've had those thoughts too; but I'm more than ready to take a chance if you are. The most that'll happen is that we both look like idiots, and nobody will care about that in time. If you're willing to try than I am." Ko said, putting a hand on Kurai's shoulder. The female smiled, which made Ko feel very good.**

Kurai looked at the Yautja with a smile on her face. Her fears, while not completely gone, were allayed to some degree by Ko's admittance that he, too was nervous about how things would turn out between them. She had felt a little embarrassed while telling him about her feelings, but now she felt quite relieved.

Getting up from her chair, Kurai went over to the bed and sat beside Ko, who inhaled deeply when she drew close.

Reaching out, Kurai gently took Ko's face in her hands and brought him closer. The sound of Ko's purring could suddenly be heard in the air. Bringing her own face closer, the two met in a gentle kiss. In a moment, the girl felt Ko's arms around her, drawing her closer to him. It wasn't too long ago that she would have drawn away from such a gesture, but she found that she very much enjoyed being in Ko's arms. The larger male broke the kiss after a minute and gently moved his mandibles to Kurai's neck and began to carefully nibble.

_"Whoa, that feels…good!"_ Kurai thought to herself, and leaned her head back a bit to let Ko keep up what he was doing.

**Ko couldn't believe this; Kurai was submitting to him! He moved down a little to gently nip at her shoulder, making her sigh with pleasure. He didn't know how long the two of them had been like that, but the next time he came back to reality, he noticed that had Kurai lying back on his bed with him a little on top. Inhaling deeply, Ko decided to take a chance.**

** Moving carefully, he was soon fully on top, making sure not to stop nibbling her neck. Kurai put her arms around him and moaned a little, making him that much more eager. He was taken by surprise when Kurai suddenly flipped him over, landing with her sitting on his belly. **

**Ko let out a long whine of longing, which got louder as Kurai bent down and began to kiss his neck. The male began to purr loudly as Kurai moved from his neck to his chest, and whined again when she moved to his belly. His mind began to run past the various scenarios of what would be next, his breath was coming in short gasps now, when suddenly….**

"Oh!" Kurai said, surprised. She had been kissing Ko's belly, half wondering about what she'd do next, when she suddenly felt something in her pocket. Reaching down, she felt her data pad vibrating; someone was sending her a message.

Taking the device in her hand, she looked at the screen, all too aware that Ko was whimpering a little as he watched her.

Looking at the message, Kurai gasped with pleasure at what she read.

"Hey, Kurai; Ne'Renh finished our stuff early, come to his room." It was from Taki.

"Ko, good news; Ne'Renh's done with our stuff!" she said, looking at Ko, who looked up suddenly.

"That's…great." Ko said, feeling the excitement go out of him in a matter of seconds. Kurai go off him before replacing the data pad in her pocket. Ko sighed in frustration.

"Come on; we've gotta get up there to Ne'Renh's place before he gets…well, you probably know how he gets." Kurai said, half frustrated, half relieved to be out of that situation. Walking over to the door, she opened it and headed out, swearing she heard Ko growl softly to himself before rising and following her.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XX

Kurai walked quickly down the misty corridors, with Ko muttering quietly behind her. Secretly, she was glad to be out of that situation.

_"What the hell was I about to do back there?"_ she thought to herself. She had never even gone on a date with Ko, and she had almost… Ugh! She silently cursed herself; what sort of whore was she turning into? Shame made her face burn; she had not been raised to be better than those other girls who would jump on any guy that looked halfway decent and had a couple of dollars to his name.

Sighing to herself, she resolved to get Taki alone and talk about this. If there was anyone who could understand, it was Taki; he'd been with enough women (and men?) to at least give her some advice on the subject.

Kurai forced these thoughts out of her head as she walked down the halls toward Ne'Renh's place. She was surprised that the weapons maker had finished a couple of days ahead of schedule, especially since he had two sets of armor and weapons to complete. Then again, she remembered that Ko had said Ne'Renh was very picky about whom he made weapons for, so it was entirely possible that he hadn't had anything else to do for awhile. He had said that he could make what they wanted, so Kurai wasn't worried about that, but the fact was that their chiva was less than a month away now, and they had only begun to really train.

Ko had told her that her training with Makoto, although basic, was going to be a great help in the real trials. "You probably won't be fighting the ones you call Praetorians," he'd said, "unless you venture too far into the hive, but all you have to do is get a single skull. There will be plenty of opportunities for this; don't get greedy."

They were nearing Ne'Renh's place, and Ko was still muttering to himself. Occasionally, Kurai could make out the words "pauk" and "interruptions", making her smile a little; poor Ko was probably frustrated beyond belief right now, but hopefully when he saw the new armaments he'd calm down…or he could take a cold shower later.

They got to the large doors and found that they were open, but knocked anyway, not wanting to make Ne'Renh more irritated than she was sure he already was with Taki there.

"Enter, Ooman." Came Ne'Renh's voice from the other side. Kurai decided not to make him wait any longer than she had too and opened the door and walked inside.

The interior of the room was pretty much the same as it was the first time she had been there, except that there were a couple of new weapons laying on the tables. Taki was standing beside the door, obviously waiting for them, and looking at something on his data pad.

"Glad you're here Kurai; I got here a few minutes ago and he's been like that since then." Taki said, looking up from whatever it was he was doing and nodding to a corner of the room.

Kurai looked to where Taki had indicated; Ne'Renh was standing with his back turned to them and was looking at something on a large table that was shielded from view.

As the three of them drew closer, they could here the Yautja mumbling to himself in his language and moving around a little.

Not wanting to interrupt them, Kurai, Ko and Taki stood quietly to one side until he was finished. At last, Ne'Renh turned to face the other three in the room. Clearing his throat, the Yautja moved to one side and showed them what had previously been concealed by his back.

"I present to you; your armor." Ne'Renh said, rather proudly.

Kurai walked over to the table, and her crimson eyes went wide.

Ne'Renh had really put all his considerable skill into these items. Both sets of armor were deep black, reminding Kurai of Xenomorph skin, with dark silver around the edges. The suits were made of very sleek-looking metal, which Kurai remembered Ne'Renh saying would be acid proof. Each set of armor was made up of several pieces; a breastplate, kneepads, shoulder coverings, a backpack that Ne'Renh had previously told her was the battery for the wrist computer and mask, a kind of utility belt, boots, and a mesh undersuit that was made to keep the wearer warm or cool, depending on the outside temperature. Also there was the wrist computer, which would hold vital information about the prey being hunted, the planet, and an assortment of other things, and on which would go the deadly thermonuclear bomb that all Yautja started out with. The suit included a sort of metal half-shirt thing , which she'd read could stop bullets, and a kind of longish loincloth thing that had underwear sewn into it. There was a metal collar-looking thing that Kurai guessed was neck protection, and metal wrist covers that would also be used in conjunction with the wristblades. Luckily, the loincloth was long enough to cover a good portion of her thighs, so Kurai wouldn't feel naked in the heat of battle. The idea of women fighting monsters and demons in a leather tube top and mini skirt was just so frustrating for her. Over to one side were the masks; which, as Dto had put it, made the suits.

"This one is yours." Ne'Renh informed Kurai, pointing to one. Kurai directed her attention to the device.

Hers was as black as her armor, with the same silver accents. The shape was not like those of other Yautja masks, seeing as how the facial structure of the two species was so different; hers was sleek, designed to fit her perfectly. The thing was shaped a little like one of the helmets one would use for riding motorcycles, but was hardly as bulky. The lenses for the eyes were a dark purple, surprising Kurai, since Ne'Renh didn't really know about her color choice.

Taki's was a lot like Kurai's, except that his eye pieces were a deep blue. His armor was clearly made for a male, owing to the larger proportions, along with the metal mesh underwear with the added protection. Taki's armor also had a half-shirt, which Kurai thought suited him in a way. He had the same mesh undersuit, belt, and wrist computer that she did, along with similar boots. Both sets were beautifully made and, if Ne'Renh knew his stuff as much as he said he did, could take a lot of damage. Kurai was glad to see that the boots the weapons maker had fashioned for her actually looked like they were made for combat; not the impossibly high-heeled footwear she'd seen in some sci-fi comics.

Ne'Renh went over and stood in front of the armor again, then cleared his throat and began to speak.

"These are your suits of armor, Oomans. I made these for you for hunting prey; always remember that. They are not for wearing as fashion accessories around the ship; although you will most certainly be wearing them for special occasions and important ceremonies.

These suits are the basic accoutrements for hunters of your rank. I can, when you gain enough trophies and honor, upgrade your equipment, though you needn't worry about that for quite some time. As promised, they are resistant to kiande amedha blood, as are your masks and other metal items. I expect that, whenever I see you in your armor, it will be clean and well-cared for. These are no play clothes to be worn and thrown in the corner; they are made for protecting your prone Ooman forms from those who would otherwise harm you. Clean your armor regularly; polish it and bring it to me for repairs when necessary. Your underclothes I expect you to wash yourselves; I am not one who will do it for you. Do not neglect to repair and maintain these protectives; dishonoring you armor will dishonor me, and you do not want that, I assure you.

Now, on to the basics; I'm sure you get the idea of where everything goes, yes?"

The two humans nodded; they'd both worn various types of armor back on Earth, some for reenactments, some for cos-play, and some for fun.

"Good; we can skip the embarrassment of me having to help you into your armor, I'll leave that up to you, Warrior Ko." He nodded to Ko, who gave a respectful little bow.

Ne'Renh went on to give a brief rundown of the functions of the various pieces of equipment. Most of them were common sense stuff, until he got to the masks and wrist computers.

"These are your masks; they perform a great many helpful functions. Yours are only the basic model, as is customary, but as I said earlier, they can be upgraded when I decide you're ready. Normally most of the mask's functions would be pressing switches with one's tusks, but since you Oomans lack the proper anatomy, I've taken the liberty of rewiring the whole system. The mask and plasma-caster will be hooked into your wrist computers; meaning that you will have a lot more learning to do with them. Information from your data pads can be downloaded into the wrist computers, so feel free to do so. The backpacks you see will not only protect your teeny tiny spinal cords, but provide power for your masks, wrist computers, and plasma casters. The masks allow you to breathe in a variety of different environments, but underwater as well. You can see in a few spectrums of light, as well as infrared; which won't help you against the kiande amedha, I assure you.

Along with the technology I have just shown you, there is also the matter of your bomb. Yautja custom dictates that, if you are captured either by enemy or prey, you are to detonate the bomb. Depending on the time you set it to, it will go off anywhere from ten seconds to ten minutes after it has been activated. These are not toys; they are weapon of last resort in most cases; powerful enough to destroy a small city if you need to. If your bomb goes off, we will be alerted to the fact immediately after the fact. Are there any questions so far?"

"Yeah; what if one of us detonates our bomb, but manages to get away? Will you guys come pick us up or what?" Taki asked.

"Ah, a good question. If you manage to get away in time and send a message notifying the clan of the fact, a small ship will be sent for you. However, if it is found that you set your bomb off because you thought it would be amusing, or because you were too much of a coward to die in battle, you will be dealt with…permanently. An investigation into the reason for the detonation will commence; and you'd better pray that everything is on the up-and-up."

"Right."Taki said quietly.

"Now, I think we're done with the armor; on to the weapons." The male said, then turned and left the room for a moment. He returned, holding two boxes, which he deposited onto a nearby table. Taki and Kurai stepped forward…


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XXI

Ne'Renh opened the lid of one of the boxes and Kurai and Taki both gasped. Taki's weapons were the first to be viewed.

Taki's new shurikens lay there in a neat stack; ten shining stars of deadly metal. They were made of a dark silver metal, and their blades shone, sharp and waiting to do their job.

"Whoa…" Taki whispered, admiring the weapons.

"Whoa indeed. These are not like your original ones; they are a bit more heavy, and they can cut through pretty much any of your Ooman metals. I made these out of the special metal that resists kiande amedha blood, so you needn't worry about them in that area. " Ne'Renh said.

"Hey, what's this?" Taki asked, looking at one of the throwing stars. Kurai leaned in to see what her friend was talking about.

On one of the points of each star was a small symbol; a crescent moon. Kurai thought it looked familiar.

"Oh, this; it's the symbol of the Silver Crescent Clan. Since you're going to become a member of this clan, it'll naturally be your honor to wear our symbol on your weapons and armor, see?" with this, he indicated their armor.

The humans looked at the armor and, sure enough, there was a silhouette of a crescent moon on the left shoulder plate of each suit. The design was about two inches high, and done in silver.

"It's to remind you that your honor is our honor, your disgrace is our disgrace. You will get your marks on your masks, as well as your scars, when you earn them in your upcoming chiva. Is there anything else you need to know?" the weapons maker asked.

"Not really." Taki said.

"Good. Now, for the female's weapons…" Ne'Renh said, lifting the lid of the other box and taking something out.

If Kurai had gasped before, she nearly choked now.

Ne'Renh held her new fans out to her, and Kurai graciously took them. The weapons was made, unlike Taki's, out of black metal, like her armor. There were thirteen metal bars making up each fan, and the weight proved it. The things had to weigh at least two pounds each; she'd really have to get used to that. When they were folded, they about thirteen inches long, and expanded, about eighteen. On the front of the fans was the Silver Crescent's symbol, done in beautiful silver and about five inches tall. When folded, these fans were actually thinner than her other ones, but still heavier. Looking at the ends, Kurai was surprised to find that they made an incredibly sharp blade when unfolded and, if Ne'Renh had made hers like Taki's, could cut through Earth's metals. they were the most beautiful examples of _tessen_ that Kurai had ever seen.

"Oh, my…" Kurai said, turning the gorgeous things over in her hands.

"Yours were a bit more of a challenge than his. They really put my skills to use, you know. Of course, they're acid resistant, but they are heavier than I had wanted them to be; we just don't have the kind of lightweight metals you do on Earth…at least not ones that can hold up as well as this metal. That weight will be a problem, but I expect you to practice with these every day. They're also a lot bigger than your other ones; we Yautja just aren't good at making such small and delicate weapons as Oomans are. Well, what do you think, Ooman?"

Kurai still hadn't gotten over how beautiful the fans were.

"What? You don't like them?" Ne'Renh asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Oh, Ne'Renh…they're exquisite…I've never seen anything like them…" Kurai whispered.

"Of course you haven't, Ooman; they're an original. Now for your payment…I expect you to be here early tomorrow morning; you'll be helping me with my research on Earth's weaponry, while you-" he looked at Taki, who was getting used to the weight of his shurikens, "will help her demonstrate moves if and when the time comes. Is that understood?"

"Yes." The two said together, still stunned by the beauty of their new weapons. Ko wasn't kidding; this guy did amazing work.

"Good; now take your things and go." Ne'Renh said simply, and the three of them loaded up and did as they were told. Ko, Taki and Kurai each grabbed various pieces of armor and weapons, each praying not to drop anything on the long way home.

Luckily, their prayers were answered, as not one of them dropped anything. They all made it back to Kurai's room, where the armor was gently deposited onto the bed and the weapons laid on a table. Kurai was about to begin putting things away, when Ko, who had taken the liberty of sitting on Kurai's bed, cleared his throat, about to speak. Kurai and Taki both took up positions on the bed; Taki on the far end and Kurai next to (actually almost leaning on) Ko.

"Hold on; there's plenty of time left in the day. Put on your things and we'll go to the kehrite. You'll need to build up muscle mass to carry all that weight on your chiva." The more experienced male pointed out.

"Come on; it doesn't look that heavy." Taki said, picking up a knee pad.

"No it doesn't look heavy at all when it's laying in pieces on a bed, but wait until you're in the middle of a kiande amedha hive, where it's hot and humid, and there are enemies everywhere. Where you need to run at top speed, but you can barely manage half that because of all the extra weight…not to mention that you'll also be carrying some more equipment and weapons, as well as your trophies, of course. Does it sound so easy now, Taki?" Ko asked, and the young human's eyes widened.

"Awww…haven't I gone through enough today? What with finding out that Lida kissed Kurai and then carrying all this stuff up here-Aw, fuck me!" He stopped suddenly and looked at Ko, who's mandibles had dropped almost to his chest.

"Wh-WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Ko cried, jumping up, which effectively knocked Kurai backwards off the bed with a little "Oh!" sound.

"Sorry, Kurai…." Taki said, as his friend struggled up from the floor, rubbing her head.

"It's okay, Taki…but you'd better go now…before Ko comes to his senses." Kurai said, and indeed, Ko was standing there, looking more confused than she had ever seen him. He sat down and grabbed a pillow, and actually began to whimper a little. It looked too sad for words.

Taki did as he was asked, leaving Kurai alone with Ko, who was still whimpering.

"Ko, it's no big deal; she just kissed me, that's all." Kurai comforted.

"No big deal? No big deal! It's a pretty damn big deal, Kurai! I mean, if I lose you to another male, well that's nature; but if I lose you to a female…I'd best just go into a kiande amedha hive naked!"

"Aw…come on; Makoto made passes at me too, you know." Kurai said, trying to comfort her friend.

"HE WHAT? Come on; if you'd accepted, I really would have to kill myself…" Ko said, then was quiet a few moments.

"Did you…_like_ it?" Ko asked, looking up from whatever thoughts he was having.

"Well, it wasn't the most unpleasant thing that had ever happened to me, but I preferred it when you kissed me, Ko."

The Yautja looked up, and in a moment jumped back onto his feet and puffed his chest out.

"Of…Of course you did; I've…I've got everything you'll ever need in a mate…and more." He winked at her when he said the last part. Obviously feeling more confident, the male walked out of the room, letting the door shut behind him. In a few minutes, Taki returned; he'd obviously been close by, waiting for the chance to talk to his friend.

"He didn't look to mad when he left here." Taki pointed out, beginning to pick up the armor.

"Yeah, I stroked his ego a little before he left." Kurai said, placing her mask on the same table as the weapons.

"Uh, is it safe to sit down on this bed, then?" Taki asked, and the two laughed as they put the armor away.


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XXII

Kurai and Taki were up and at Ne'Renh's place early the next day. Ko had to be in the kehrite to spar with Dto, so they were on their own for the time being. The doors were already open and Ne'Renh looked up from polishing a sword and gave a growl of greeting.

"All right; female, I need you to help me with my research, while the male finishes polishing this sword, after that, I'll find something for him to do." The Yautja said, laying the sword and rag on the table.

"First off; our names are Kurai and Taki." Kurai said, fed up with being called "Ooman" and "female". "Second, I'm not going to stand here talking to you while Taki just sits there and cleans your weapons all day; it's not right! You can talk to _both_ of us; then we'll _both_ do the cleaning, it'll take half the time, all right?"

Ne'Renh was quiet for a few minutes, and Kurai was sure that the older male was going to explode, but then…

"Very well, you can both help me and clean my weapons; but since you're so keen on doing everything together, you will clean _all_ my weapons." Ne'Renh said.

They looked around the room and shrugged their shoulders, smirking.

"This isn't so bad; we'll do it." Taki said.

"Oh, did you think that these were all my weapons? Silly me! I forgot to show you the rest of my rooms; I'm so rude sometimes! Come; I'll give you the grand tour." Ne'Renh said, then beckoned them to follow him as he exited the room.

The two of them followed the male out of the room, noting the small table in the next one, on which sat a small dagger, the blade of which looked as though it was made from some shiny, exotic black stone. The handle was made of some silver metal, and bound in black leather for a grip. The blade itself was serrated, giving the thing a strangely familiar look.

"Kiande amedha chitin; a little hard to work with at times, and not incredibly durable in a fight, but it's only decorative, so it really doesn't matter." The weapons maker said, making them jump.

"How'd you get it?" Kurai asked, wanting to take the blade in her hand, but thought better of it at the moment.

"I killed a kiande amedha and took it, how else? If either of you want me to make you something out of kiande amedha chitin, you'll have to bring me some."

"Make us something? Like what?" Kurai asked.

"Well, there are several items that can be made out of this material; but they're mostly decorative. There are blades like the one you see here; then there are a few accessories that are made from the teeth and bones, but females are the ones who usually make those. There is a such thing as kiande amedha armor, and I would like to try my hand at making it one day, but I've never really seen it used in battle; it's usually just a kind of trophy for Arbitrators and such to be worn at special ceremonies."

"Amazing…" both humans said together, trying to imagine what Xenomorph armor would look like.

'Indeed it is, but come; we have more rooms to see." Ne'Renh said, leading them away from the table and the black blade.

They were led down a short hallway, on the walls of which hung a few small pieces of armor, and finally into a large room with a couple of doors leading out of it.

Both Kurai and Taki felt a sinking feeling as they looked around this room.

The place was about one hundred feet square, and held quite a few tables and workbenches. Some of the tables had lamps and magnifying glasses, while others were fairly piled with tools and items in various stages of completion. On the walls hung more weapons and armor, but these pieces were considerably larger than those out in the hall. The walls were lined with shelves, on which were hundreds of weapons and pieces of armor of every shape and size.

Kurai and Taki looked around with a sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs at all the weapons and armor that they would be cleaning. Kurai had a momentary thought that she should have kept her mouth shut, but the felt ashamed of herself for it.

"You…you made all this?" Kurai asked, looking around the huge room.

"Most of it, yes. I have a lot of time on my hands."

"What about hunting?" Taki asked, examining what appeared to be the Yautja equivalent of a broadsword that was almost as tall as he was.

"I really don't need to any more; the Elder said that my skills are too valuable to lose." Ne'Renh said, looking around at his work.

"It just seems a little silly to me; you have all these weapons, and you're famous for them, but you never give them to anyone, they just keep piling up." Kurai said.

"I've thought that sometimes, too; but whenever I consider giving something away, I always think about how much work went into making it."

"I think you're just a packrat." Taki mumbled, and the two others looked at him, Kurai smiling and Ne'Renh frowning.

"Anyway, let's get back into the other room and get some research done." Ne'Renh said, clearing his throat. They were about to turn, when Kurai suddenly remembered the other two doors.

"Where do they lead?" Kurai asked, indicating the doors.

"They lead to my kitchen area and bedchamber and bathroom; now let's go." The older male said, turning again and beginning to walk back into the main room.

Kurai and Taki followed him, not looking forward to the cleaning that would have to be done once they were finished with helping the Yautja with his research.

Which led to another question; what would Ne'Renh's research entail? He had said that he would be doing research, but he had never expanded upon that fact.

The three of them walked into the main room, still reeling from the sheer number of weapons Ne'Renh had. The Yautja turned to the humans and cleared his throat, then spoke in an authoritative tone.

"All right; I've told you that I'm doing research on Ooman weaponry, and that I, the greatest weapons maker of the Silver Crescent Clan, need the help of you Oomans to complete said research. I have a few files on Ooman weapons here-" he said, going over to a table and picking up a data pad, then handed it to Kurai- "which were collected by hunters coming from the Ooman homeworld. These hunters recorded bits of information on the weapons and some types of armor, but these are mainly fragments, and aren't nearly enough to get a good idea of how the arms look, never mind how they work in battle. You, Oomans-sorry, Kurai and Taki-seem to have more than a passing knowledge of weaponry. It is this knowledge that I wish to employ now. I'll leave you alone for a few moments to get familiar with the files I already have."

With this, he left the room, leaving Kurai and Taki alone with the data pad. The two humans looked at the information Ne'Renh had managed to collect. It wasn't much; and that was being generous. There were a few paragraphs about what Kurai and Taki agreed was a rapier, and some others about weapons that neither one of them could really form images of in their heads.

Finally, Ne'Renh returned, and Kurai handed his data pad back to him and told him what they had concluded.

"Worst info ever." Kurai said, and Ne'Renh nodded.

"These guys who gave you the info really didn't have a gift for words, do they?" Taki said.

"We're hunters, Kurai; most of us aren't really good at things like that." Ne'Renh admitted.

"Sorry…anyway, how do we go about this? I mean, do you ask us questions or something?" Kurai asked.

"Well, yes; I'll ask you about different weapons and you two will tell me what you know, all right?"

"Okay." Both of the humans said together.

For the next two hours, Ne'Renh pumped them for information on every weapon they'd ever used, seen or heard about. The weapons maker recorded the information as they said it using a kind of voice recording device. He listened, fascinated, as they told him about everything from katanas, shurikens and tessen to tanks, battleships and nuclear bombs. He occasionally asked questions, such as how long the blade of a tachi needed to be, how to throw a kunai properly, and the difference between a wakizashi and a katana.

Sometimes, Ne'Renh would ask Kurai and Taki to demonstrate a move using either their or one of his weapons. He was fascinated to learn that many of the members of Kurai's family were gifted with expertise in martial arts as well as many types of weapons.

"All right; I think I have enough information for the time being, but I might need to speak to you again in the future. Now…GET TO WORK!" He said, and threw a rag and a jar of cleaning solution to each of them.

If they thought that telling Ne'Renh about weapons was tiring, they were absolutely exhausted after they were done with the first room. Every single weapon and piece of armor in the room needed to be taken down, polished, and then put back up. Their only consolation was the fact that eventually they would be done.

"All right; you're done with this room. Take a short break and then you can start on the hallway and the other room." Ne'Renh said, setting a pitcher of water and two glasses on a table.

"Thank you!" The two of them said, sinking into the chairs and grabbing a glass each.

"You've done an incredible job here…I'm actually…impressed." Ne'Renh admitted, examining a sword on the wall.

"You know, I had a few of the Young Bloods in here some time ago to clean my weapons." The male said thoughtfully, "They did a horrible job; there was cleaning solution everywhere, a couple of my daggers got scratched, and someone dropped one of my masks. I swear, I'll never ask anyone who hasn't achieved the rank of Warrior to help me with this again!"

"I don't blame you." Taki said, looking around the room at all the newly-cleaned armaments.

After a few minutes, they decided to get on with it and go finish the job. Sighing, Kurai and Taki picked up their rags and cleaning solution and walked into the other room. Kurai took the highway while Taki began on the other room.

This next task took the two of them almost five hours. By the end of this period, they were more tired than they'd ever thought possible, but every single weapon in there was shining and free scratches.

"Were…done?" Kurai asked as Ne'Renh came in to check their progress.

"Well, there are my trophies; but I really don't trust anyone else with those, so yes, you're done." He said.

"Woo." Taki said, and the two of them began to drag themselves out of the room. They were too tired to do anything but go back to their beds and sleep, so Ne'Renh took pity on them, even opening the door for them as they exited. Before she got out the door, the weapons maker put a large hand on Kurai's shoulder, signaling for her to wait a moment. Taki looked back at his friend, but she gave him the go-ahead to go on. He sighed in relief and began to walk slowly back down to his quarters.

"It was a good thing you did; helping your friend when you didn't have to. It showed me that you have great honor." Ne'Renh said."To share the burden of another when you can be free of it…it is becoming a rarity among pups these days."

"Taki and I go a long way back; I'll always stand by him." Kurai said, straightening up a little. Her back ached like hell right now, and a hot shower would be heaven.

"That may be, Kurai, but remember; on your chiva, as well as any other hunt, it's every hunter for themselves. You can't be responsible for him when you're fighting for your own life, and vice versa. He's not a pup, and you're not his mother; don't forget that."

With this, Ne'Renh released Kurai's shoulder and went let her leave. The door slid shut, leaving the girl out in the hall, contemplating the Yautja's words.


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XXIII

For the next three weeks, Kurai and Taki trained almost nonstop to get used to their new weapons and armor.

They were a kind of attraction; some of the Young Bloods came to watch them, until they were chased off by the more experienced hunters, who also stayed to look on as they practice. One day, Ne'Renh actually came down to check up on them, nodding occasionally In their direction, while a few of the others looked on with open mouths.

One day, the two of them were training with Ko, who was giving Taki pointers on how to move his wrist when using such a heavy shuriken. The smart discs the Yautja used were a little like Earth's shurikens, but Ko suggested that Taki finish his chiva before getting serious about those.

"All right, Oomans!" Elder Yeyinde said, striding into the kehrite along with Kantra, who took a long drink out of a flask when he thought no one was looking, but quickly capped it and wiped his mouth before the Elder turned back around.

"You're in luck; I looked into some records and it just so happens that we're approaching a planet that is certified for chiva purposes. There's already about four kiande amedha hives that we know about there; as well as quite a few animals that, if I read this right, prove quite a challenge."

"How soon will we be arriving?" Kurai asked, and noted that Ko got a little nervous as soon as the words were out.

"Two days." Kantra said, perhaps a little louder than he intended to.

"Kantra, if you're going to drink in public, at least try to conceal the fact." Elder Yeyinde said, then turned back to the other three.

"Yes, two days from now, the two of you, as well as all the other Unblooded here, will embark on your chiva. I expect to have at least one of you pass the test, that is all for now, go back to your training; you'll need it." With this, Elder Yeyinde turned and began to walk out of the room.

"Damn, he's stuffy today." Kurai muttered under her breath.

"And people ask me why I drink!" Kantra said, then turned to follow his superior.

Ko sighed and walked over to a bench and sat down, and in a moment the two humans followed him.

"Two days…I didn't know so much time had gone by…" Ko said, putting his head in his hands.

"I know we talked about it, but I guess I never really thought that it'd happen." The Yautja continued, sighing again.

"Well, whether you thought of it or not, it's gonna happen in two days, so we need to start getting ready right now." Taki said, and Kurai nodded vigorously.

"Yes…yes, I suppose…" Ko said, still with his head in his hands.

"Okays, then let's get back to training!" Taki said, then jumped back into the middle of the room. "Come on, Kurai; we've got work to do!" he called.

"In a minute." Kurai said over her shoulder, then turned back to Ko, who she saw was now looking up at her almost…sadly.

"What's wrong? You've been like this for a while; what's up?" the human asked.

"It's just that….well… Look, meet me in my room later and I'll tell you; it's not something I want to talk about in here." Ko said, then got up and went over to begin coaching Taki again, leaving Kurai standing there, curious as to what Ko wanted to speak to her about so badly that he couldn't do it here.

The three of them stayed in the kehrite for another four hours, until about six hunters came in and their teacher asked them to leave. Taki went off to take a shower, leaving Kurai and Ko to walk back to Ko's room alone.

Once they were there, Ko opened the door and let Kurai in, then followed. The girl saw that the room was a lot cleaner than it had been the last time; all the armor was put back where it belonged and not on every conceivable surface.

"So Ko; what is it that you need-"her words were stopped by a hard kiss from Ko. He pressed her to him gently, rubbing her all over, for a couple of minutes before letting her go.

Kurai breathed deeply; that had been truly something, and Ko began to speak.

"Kurai…I really didn't think that your chiva would come so soon, and I think that you should…well…"

"What is it? Come on, Ko; out with it!" Kurai said.

"Kurai, I think you should just forgo your chiva altogether!" the male blurted out, then looked away quickly.

"What? Why?" Kurai stammered, confused at the Yautja's words.

"Look, I thought it'd be fine when I brought you here; but I'm seeing that you're just not…cut out for this kind of thing. Sure; you're a great fighter, but this isn't a training match, you could _die_! I think you should just go to Elder Yeyinde and tell him you wish not to take the test and just live as a-"

"As an Eta?" Kurai asked, looking at him.

"As a female!" Ko said.

"But what about Taki? Contrary to popular belief, he doesn't want to live as a female, Ko!"

"Taki may take his chiva, and I wish him the protection of the gods, but what I'm concerned about is you!"

"Ko… I'm sorry, but no; Taki and I have worked too hard and come too far not to do this now. We've left our home, and I've left my family, we've changed our entire way of life and left behind everything familiar to come here, and you want me to give that up? You told me that I could be a great fighter, and you're changing your mind now?" Kurai said in disbelief.

"You still can be; just not a huntress! Look, females don't normally hunt, but they are known as great warriors nonetheless. If you were to forgo the trial, and instead pursue the path of the warrior, you'd be able to keep both your honor and your life! There's not a male on this ship who would say a word against you if you decided to take the female's path in life!"

"No; I'm doing this, Ko, and I'm sorry, but you can't change my mind!" Kurai said firmly.

"Kurai…please… I can't lose you…" Ko said, and it was just a whisper.

The human walked over and gently put her arms around the larger male, and he returned the embrace in a moment. The girl felt him gently nuzzling the top of her head, and responded by laying it against his chest. Ko's purring began, echoing deep into his chest. "Don't worry; you won't." Kurai whispered to him, then gently pulled away and walked out of the room, leaving him alone.


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

**Okay peoples; I've noticed that I've only gotten at best one review from each of my last five chapters. I really need some feedback, guys!**

Chapter XXIV

The next day was a hectic one. There were a million things to do; armor to clean, weapons to get ready, and an assortment of other things. They had been working since before "dawn" on the ship, and it was now early evening. The two were in Kurai's room, checking that everything was ready for the event that was to happen the day after tomorrow.

Kurai and Taki were not the only ones to be embarking on a chiva; there were about five more Unblooded males who were also going. These five were pretty much ignored by most of the others in the Silver Crescent Clan, a hazard of the trade. One might think that the five young Yautja would stick together; a common bond sort of thing, but the exact opposite was true.

"It's actually pretty normal." Ko had told her once when she's seen the five spread out around the ship.

"How do you mean?" Kurai had asked, confused.

"Well, those five, and you and Taki as well, are all competing for the opportunity to be true hunters. Not only will you be hunting kiande amedha, you'll also be competing against each other. You will vie for the best prey, as well as the best hunting ground."

"So, will this ever change?" Kurai asked.

"Probably not; even true hunters often fight each other over matters such as who gets to hunt where and when, but it's usually not too bad. They might get a little more friendly once this is over; if they live through it, that is."

And so it was; the five other males were often seen alone, and avoided most social situations now more than ever since their chiva was looming.

Kurai and Taki were double-checking everything for their chiva; weapons, armor, wrist computer, medi-kit and a few other things they'd need for the trial, when a knock at Kurai's door made them look up.

Kurai went over to the door and opened it, finding that Kantra was there on the other side.

"Elder Yeyinde wishes to see all the Unblooded in the Kehrite." The male said, sounded bored.

"Why?" Taki asked flatly. He'd been in a rather bad mood today; mostly because the Unblooded kept him up most of the night with a kind of party to commemorate the possible last days of their lives. The young man had gotten about two hours of sleep that night, and was hardly in the mood to be crowded into a room with the five youngsters.

"He wants to talk to all of you about your chiva…or something; I wasn't really listening."

"Needed a refill?" Kurai asked.

"More than you'll ever know." Kantra said, before turning beginning to walk down the hall. Kurai and Taki quickly followed, with Kurai quickly locking the door.

They walked all the way down the corridors, wondering what the Elder wanted with the Unblooded. Finally they arrived at the kehrite, finding that all five of the other Unblooded were there, as well as a couple of their teachers and Ko. Kantra had done a good job teaching Kurai and Taki, but Ko was the one they really wanted to thank.

They went over and sat with the other five, who were already muttering to themselves. In a moment, Elder Yeyinde walked out into the center of the room and cleared his throat for attention.

"Tomorrow you will take the first step on the path to becoming hunters. Some of you will likely die; and if that is the will of Paya, then so be it. For those of you who survive, I will mark you and welcome you into the Silver Crescent Clan as true hunters. We will be in orbit of the chiva planet, which is named Ka'Mih, shortly, and will land there tomorrow morning. I expect you to rest; because you likely won't be sleeping for some time. The ship will drop you off about a mile from the kiande amedha hive, and will pick you up in two days. Your objective is to get to the hive, get your trophy, get out alive and meet the ship at the drop-off point; assuming that the kiande amedha don't chase you that far, that is."

One of the Unblooded raised his hand slightly for attention, and Elder Yeyinde gestured toward him. The young male stood, then spoke.

"Far be it for me to question you, Elder Yeyinde; but what if the kiande amedha do chase us?" he asked.

"Well then; I'd suppose you'd better take care of them then." The Elder said.

"Right." The Unblooded said, sitting down. A light murmuring could be heard from the other young males in the room, which quickly quieted down when the Elder shot them a meaningful look.

"Right then; it's not time to sleep yet, but in the spirit of the occasion, I'll allow you to return to your beds now. Remember; you'll be leaving tomorrow morning, so have everything ready." Elder Yeyinde said, then turned on his heel and left the room without another word.

"Well now; I suppose we all know who will most likely die tomorrow?" one of the Unblooded said offhandedly.

"And I suppose you know who'll kick your fucking ass if you keep them up again tonight?" Taki said, and Kurai looked at him, shocked; it wasn't often that he sank to her level of darkness.

"_Damn_." Kantra muttered, and Ko nodded in agreement.

The Unblooded looked shocked as well; Taki was usually the quiet one, but a little sleep deprivation will turn even the nicest person into a monster. The young Yautja looked as though he wanted to say something back to Taki, but one of his peers put his hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

With the departure of Elder Yeyinde, the rest of them took the hint and began filing out of the room. On the way out, the male who insulted them passed Taki and muttered, just low enough to hear…

"I'll be hoping a kiande amedha eats you, Ooman." Before moving on a step. Taki smiled darkly, before replying.

"And I'll be hoping that you don't wake up with a plastic bag over your head." He said, before walking out of the room. Kurai stood there a moment in shock before running to join him, followed a moment later by Ko.

"Hey, Taki; you wouldn't really…you know, would you?" Kurai asked.

"Kurai, I don't ask for much in this world; a bit of good food, a clean place to live, and about eight hours a night. I don't mind being insulted and being called "Ooman" by pretty much everyone here, and I don't mind that Yautja eat mostly meat so I've been backed up for nearly a week, but when I'm kept up for twenty-two hours straight, I have to draw the line." He said.

"You've been up for twenty-two hours?" Ko asked, concerned.

"You've been backed up for nearly a week?" Kantra asked, more concerned.

"Huh; the Yautja eat mostly meat, and few vegetables, that actually explains a hell of a lot." Kurai thought out loud.

"Tell me about it!" Kantra said.

"Anyway; go get some sleep, both of you. I'll come get you in the morning, all right?" Ko said, gently pushing the two of them in the general direction of their rooms.

The two humans walked to their quarters without protest; tomorrow was a big day, and rest was what they really needed right now.

Kurai walked into her room and quickly finished putting the provisions away before taking a quick shower and changing into her long black night dress.

The girl laid her head on her pillow, thinking with a mix of excitement and dread about the two days ahead of her and her best friend.


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

**Seriously, people; I really do need some of you to make a real effort to review more often! Just a couple of words of encouragement is all I need, guys!**

Chapter XXV

_BANG BANG BANG BANG!_

Kurai's crimson eyes shot open and she sat bolt upright in bed.

"Where the fuck am I?" she asked, looking around. In a moment, she a hold of her senses and felt a little foolish.

_"Oh, that must be Ko…"_ She thought, remembering his promise to wake her this morning.

Getting up, Kurai walked over to the door and looked into the camera that was there; sure enough it was Ko, accompanied by Taki. Kurai smiled and shook her head before opening the door.

"Thank the gods; I've been out there for about five minutes!" Ko said, walking into the room, followed by Taki, who rolled his eyes.

"Hurry up, Kurai; we have to be in the docking bay in less than an hour, and you both haven't even bathed yet!" Ko said when he saw Kurai in her night dress.

"Okay, okay… keep your dreads on!" Kurai said, going into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

Five minutes later, Kurai was out and getting dried off and dressed while the other two waited in the bathroom.

"Kurai, you won't really need clothes, anyway; your armor is all the clothing you'll need." Ko called from the bathroom.

Kurai chose a purple bra and put on the mesh undersuit, followed by the half shirt and loincloth thing. She called the males out while she sat on the bed and put her boots on, before putting the rest of her armor on.

Taki quickly took a shower and began to put on his own armor, with Ko and Kurai in the bathroom this time. The two of them checked to make sure that they had their weapons, then took one last look around to make sure they weren't forgetting anything. When he was done, the three of them headed out the door, with Kurai making double sure it was locked.

They walked quickly down the corridors, with Ko muttering all the way, until they reached the docking bay, where several Yautja were already crowded.

Not only were the other five Unblooded there, but several higher-ranking members of the Silver Crescent Clan. Elder Yeyinde was there, of course, talking to Kantra, who would take a drink from his flask when no one was looking. Dto and Guan were talking to each other, while two of the other warriors punched each other good-naturedly in the chest while another three watched and laughed. All in all, the general atmosphere was rather lighthearted, except for the five Unblooded scattered here and there and-

"Ne'Renh?" Kurai said, approaching the weapons maker, who was standing alone in a far corner.

"Oh yes; call on me when I so obviously want to remain unnoticed." The male said, rolling his eyes as he approached them.

"Sorry; we just didn't expect to see you here, Master Ne'Renh." Ko said, bowing deeply.

"Hey, you old slave driver!" Taki said, and Ko's mandibles dropped.

"Taki! How dare you speak to him like that; he's far above your rank?" Ko said, his amber eyes flicking from the Unblooded human to the weapons maker.

"Calm down, he's not totally unjustified; I worked them both pretty hard." Ne'Renh said, shrugging.

"What are you doing here?" Kurai asked, curious now.

"Well, I must admit that I did want to see you both off; especially since those weapons and armor you're both using took so much time and effort to make." He said offhandedly.

"Whoa; thanks, Ne'Renh." The two humans said, and Ko bowed again. Ne'Renh nodded, before retreating back into his corner.

It was a good thing he did, too; because in a moment, Elder Yeyinde called all the Unblooded to stand before him. Kurai and Taki were about to join the others, when Ne'Renh suddenly reached out and caught them both by the shoulders.

"I forgot to tell you something, Oomans, something important." He said.

"What's that?" Taki asked.

"If you die on this chiva, despite my weapons and armor; I'll pay for the burial myself." He said before letting them go. They nodded, although they were a little confused.

As they walked, Kurai noticed that Ko looked a little troubled.

"Wow that was nice of him to pay for our burial…if not a little creepy." Taki said.

"No, it's not." Ko said, stopping.

"Why not? I mean, it's a little weird, but-" Kurai began.

"Kurai, a burial is a dishonor for my race! You know that we burn the bodies of our dead?" Ko said.

"Yeah, so?" Kurai said.

"Well, we believe that when we burn them, the smoke coming up is the person's soul going up to the gods. If they are buried, the soul stays with the body in the earth, unless or until their body is burned; he just threatened to bring down one of the most horrible curses in Yautja culture on your heads if you fail." Ko said.

"Oh…okay…" Taki said.

"Are you Oomans coming, or do we have to wait until we're the Elder's age for our chiva?" one of the Unblooded hissed. Kurai noted that it was the same one who was insulting them the day before.

"All right, you're all here." Elder Yeyinde said, looking around. The others in the room quieted down, waiting for their Elder to speak.

"Now, you are all aware of what you have to do, yes? Get to the hive, get at least one trophy, and meet the ship back at the drop off point in two days' time. I will not accept failure; if you come back without a trophy, I'll kill you myself, is that understood?"

"Yes, Elder!" the seven of them said in unison.

"Good; now, I'll be opening the doors in a few minutes, and you'll go down the ramp and onto the planet. Once you're there, get a good distance away from the ship; unless you want to end up fried, of course. I don't care what you do after that; so long as you get your trophy." With this, he walked back over to talk to Dto.

True to his word, the doors were soon opened, and a blinding light filled the docking bay, making them all put their hands in front of their faces. One by one, the Unblooded began to file out of the ship, looking around with excitement and a strange dread.

Kurai and Taki were about to follow, but Ko caught them and held them back.

"Kurai, Taki, I wish you the luck of the gods, but I have some advice for you. Be brave, but don't be stupid; there is a very fine line between the two. Get a trophy, but don't get greedy; no one expects you to set a record here. Don't try to play the hero and eliminate the entire hive; just get what you need and get out immediately after. If you even see the Queen, go the other way, do you understand me?" he said.

"Yeah, we get it. But I think that everything's gonna go all right for us." Taki said. The Elder growled in their direction, and they were forced to part ways. The two humans walked down the ramp and disappeared into the blinding sunlight of the planet Ka'Mih.

"By Paya, I hope so." The Yautja said, watching as the giant doors closed behind the two people he cared for most.


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XXVI

**Ko watched, with a sense of sad pride, as Kurai and Taki walked down the ship's docking ramp and into the blinding sunlight of Ka'Mih. He had been anticipating and dreading this day since the moment Kurai and Taki had set foot on the ship. He'd known it would happen, and he'd had fantasies about how it would go; sometimes he'd pretend that they came back with a trophy and all would be well, but other times he'd imagine what would happen if they didn't come back at all. He didn't like this last scenario at all. **

**As the door closed, Ko silently begged Paya to keep his friend and possible mate safe; they were the only two people who had ever really tried to be genuinely friendly with him, and he wanted to see them again.**

**"Well, they're off on their chiva." Ne'Renh said from behind him, making him jump in surprise. **

**"Yes; and I can only hope that Paya is kind to them now." Ko said.**

**"I'm sure he will be… I'm going home now." Ne'Renh said simply, then turned around and walked out of the room.**

**"Ah, another generation of hunters embarks on its chiva." Kantra said. "You know something? Right after my chiva is when I started drinking…"**

**"I can believe it." Ko said, before he could stop himself.**

**"What was that?" Kantra said, looking at the junior hunter.**

**"N-nothing, just commenting about how I hope Kurai and Taki are all right…" Ko said quickly.**

**"That's what the pauk I thought." Kantra said, then walked over to Elder Yeyinde and began to speak with him about ordering new plasma casters for the ship's armory. Ko let out a sigh of relief; that was close.**

**Sighing, Ko turned and walked to the kehrite; those two hadn't even been gone twenty minutes and the stress was already getting to him. He'd need to work off some of this anxiety or he was sure he'd go mad. How he'd last another two days was in Paya's hands…**

_Meanwhile…_

"RUN RUN RUN!" Taki cried, as the ship's engines roared to life, spitting blue flames and hellish heat in all directions.

"FINE FINE FINE!" Kurai called back, running as fast as her legs and heavy armor would allow.

They got out of the way just in time. When the ship departed, about half an acre of the jungle was singed black in all directions.

"That could have been us…" one of the Unblooded said from behind his mask. The others muttered in agreement as a couple of trees turned to ash.

"Oh, stop whining and let's get to that hive; I'm sick of looking at all of you already." One of the Unblooded said, and not surprisingly, it was the same little smartass from earlier. Kurai took the opportunity to look at this one.

He had dark grey/green skin, with darker green spots here and there. His hair, which was braided with gold bands, was about halfway down his back. He had taken off his mask, which allowed Kurai to see that they were a light brown. His armor was a bronze color, and he carried a combi-stick. All in all, there was nothing really special about him, other than the fact that he kept insult her and Taki.

Now, Kurai had the opportunity to look around at the scenery. The whole place was a dense green jungle, reminding her a little of Pluvia, where she'd dropped off Shisome and Makoto. A pang of guilt stabbed in her chest as she thought of the two Xenomorphs.

The green jungle was extremely hot and humid, with a fine mist on the ground. Despite the lush foliage, it was still light enough on the jungle floor for them to easily see where they were going. Kurai looked at her wrist computer and, seeing that the air here was suitable for breathing, removed her mask, which she'd put on a few moments before the doors opened. The rest of the Unblooded followed her example after a little muttering amongst themselves.

The air tasted sweet, and Kurai inhaled deeply. The air that her mask provided was breathable, no doubts about that, but it tasted a little stale, like the air in a car that's been in the sun too long.

Though the smartass Unblooded was annoying, he was right; they definitely needed to get the lead out if they wanted to get to the Xenomorph hive before nightfall. Though it appeared to be morning, and Kurai's wrist computer confirmed it, she didn't know exactly how long the days on this planet lasted, and the fact that there were seven of them, in full armor and with weapons, and that they only knew the general direction of where they were heading, complicated matters a little.

"He's right; we need to get going." Taki said, and the other four agreed.

"I don't need an Ooman agreeing with me!" the Unblooded snapped. Kurai had had enough.

"Hey, you; what's your name?" she asked.

"It's Bakuub, Ooman; what's it matter to you?"

"It matters," Kurai said, "because if you keep that shit up I'm gonna have to kick your ass!"

"Do you think you can?" he sneered.

"You remember Zazin? Then there was the Matriarch, Mila, from the Blue Leaf, and I had to beat the warrior Dto to even be allowed to take this test, and I beat Ko when I first met him. Think about it; these were all experienced fighters; and who are you? A little smartass who thinks having his first hard on makes him a grownup! Do you really think that I'm gonna waste my time kicking your sorry ass? Not when I can be taking on some Xenomorphs; now let's go!" Kurai said. Turning around, she and Taki began to walk in the direction that her wrist computer indicated. The others murmured amongst themselves a bit before shrugging and following the humans.

"Well…"Bakuub said, then looked around for a moment, as if expecting some sort of support from the other Unblooded but, seeing that there was none coming, hung his head and pouted a bit, before followed sullenly.

The seven of them walked for awhile, none of them saying anything, until…

"Look at him; Bakuub's pouting like a little kid!" Taki snickered, as the two of them walked together in the front of the group.

"You know something? I think that's because he is a kid; we all are."

"No way; we're adults…damn it." Taki said.

"Physically they are, but think about it; they're trained in all this hunter stuff from such an early age. They're taught that it's better to die than fail; don't you think that's a little screwed up?"

"Yeah, but what can you do? You're never gonna be able to chance their way of thinking; they're too damn stubborn." Taki said.

"Yeah, I know…but can you imagine growing up like that? I mean, you have to fight all your life for everything you have." Kurai said.

"Yeah, it's a pretty far cry from what you grew up with." Taki said.

"Hey, you weren't exactly living in the gutter, either!"

"Yeah, I guess so…anyway, how far are we away from the Xenomorph hive?"

"Check your computer; you have one too, you know." Kurai said.

"Oh, fine…" Taki retorted. After a moment, he closed the computer.

"Hey, I've noticed; you're in a better mood today than you were yesterday." Kurai commented.

"Yeah; I got a lot of sleep last night…and I finally pooped last night. I'm feeling 100% better." Taki said cheerfully. He then began to fiddle with his computer, checking the holographic map for directions and distance.

"Okay, we've walked about an eighth of a mile, and that took us about fifteen minutes…so we should be there in about…"

"An hour and a half." One of the Unblooded said from behind them.

The two turned to see the one who had spoken. He was almost as tall as Ko, and was a dark tan color, with a slightly lighter stomach. He had large black blotches here and there, and his hair, which came down to his shoulders, was braided with silver bands. He was wearing standard armor, with no combi-stick that the two humans could see, but instead had several shurikens and a couple of smart-discs hanging from his belt, as well as a kind of short sword at his hip.

"Oh...thanks…and you are…? Kurai said, not trying to sound rude.

"Oh, I'm Chi." He said.

"Huh, that's interesting; in my language, "chi" means "earth", what does it mean here?" Taki said.

"Actually, it means "rain"; I was born during a storm, and my mother says that the sound of the rain on the roof helped me sleep." He said.

"Oh, that's so sweet!" Kurai said, and Taki rolled his eyes.

"My mother is sentimental like that; my sisters have names like that, too. Anyway, we'll be there in an hour and a half…and I'm bored already." Chi said.

"Hey, I noticed that you have shurikens…" Taki said.

"Oh? Yes, I prefer them to close-range weapons. I've been using them ever since I started training." He said.

"Me too!" Taki said. The two then began talking about the advantages of using the shurikens, how to hold them, and the proper throwing techniques. Kurai smiled; she was glad that Taki found someone else to talk with. It wasn't as though she wanted to push him off on someone else; it was just that…she and Ko would likely be spending a lot of time together in the future, and the last thing she wanted was for him to be left out. He deserved to have his own life; one that didn't revolve around her. They'd been friends forever, and they would always be, but it was good for them to meet new people.

They continued to walk, and after awhile, some of them started talking. It was probably because there was nothing else to do, and soon they quieted down again; now was hardly the time for laughing.

Chi was right; after an hour and a half, a dark shape looming in the distance. A shiver went through the Unblooded as they saw it too; the Xenomorph hive.

Five minutes later, they were standing there in front of the massive structure. The place was completely covered with resin, leading Kurai to wonder what the hive back on Pluvia would look like when she saw it next. There were no animal noises to be heard; probably the local wildlife had gotten wise to the inhabitants of this place long ago. Taking a deep breath, Kurai brought her fans out, and stepped inside…


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer-I don't own **_**Alien(s)**_** or **_**Predator**_**.**

Chapter XXVII

Kurai and Taki looked around as they stepped deeper into the darkness. The Xenomorph hive didn't look as big as the caves on Pluvia, but then again, there could be miles of underground caverns stretching out from the cave complex.

The five Unblooded males stepped in after the two humans and began to explore the cave a little. Kurai and Taki put on their masks; it was getting darker the further they went in, and the masks would help them with not being taken by surprise.

Through her mask, Kurai could see in almost perfect color, and she could see that the other five other Unblooded were taking the hint from the two humans and had put their own masks on. The hive was coated with resin, making the place look like a living organism. The large holes in the ceiling and walls meant that an attack could come from anywhere at any time, keeping them all on high alert. The cave got hotter as they went deeper inside, and Kurai wondered where in the hell the Xenomorphs were.

Her question was answered a few minutes later, when a large black shape dropped down from the ceiling in front of them.

The Drone hissed menacingly as it crouched, preparing to jump on the nearest Unblooded; Kurai. Quickly than she thought possible, the creature's tail shot out and tried to impale the girl through the shoulder. Kurai raised her fan in the nick of time; deflecting the blow, but barely. The others crowded around a little, each eager to claim this Xeno as their own trophy.

Kurai realized that she was pretty much screwed if she fought this thing in such a tight space, and so called out to the others.

"Get back; all of you!" Kurai called over her shoulder. Bad idea; the Xenomorph took the opportunity to get close and thrust its second mouth at the girl's left shoulder, and missed, but not entirely. The creature drew away, and Kurai felt a little pain. Looking down, she saw that there was a small bit of her flesh missing from the small place where her armor didn't cover. Blood trickled from the wound in her shoulder, as well as the Xeno's mouth, making Kurai both furious and a little horrified.

Luckily, the others got the idea and backed off a little, giving the human more room. She raised her fans and ran toward the Xeno, who hissed and charged at her, tail whipping in fury.

The two met in midair and clashed in a tangle of teeth, claws and armor. Kurai swung furiously with her fans, while the enraged Drone hissed and struck with its teeth, tail and claws, as well as snapping both sets of jaws at the girls' face. Ne'Renh's armor held, and Kurai avoided the worst part of the attack, but she did get a few good cuts and scratches from the razor sharp claws. No lasting damage was sustained, however, and the armor only got a few scratches.

Finally, an opportunity presented itself in the form of the Xenomorph stretching its neck out to snap at Kurai's face. Quickly, she struck an uppercut to the creature's neck, slitting its throat.

Jumping away from the spray of acid blood, Kurai watched at the Drone hissed in rage and agony as its corrosive blood spewed from the gaping wound in its throat. It took the creature less than a minute to die, but its final shrieks and screams echoed around the group for almost two minutes after. The body twitched and writhed, spewing more acidic blood and making the group step back to avoid being melted alive.

"You'd better hurry and claim your trophy, Ooman; they'll be here soon." Bakuub said, looking around a little nervously. Kurai was glad to see that he wasn't being a smartass right now.

She decided to take the Yautja's advice, in any case, and began to cut the head off of the Xenomorph. Carefully, she used a long dagger she had in a sheath on her boot to free the head from the corpse. Reaching down, she removed a canister of an acid dissolving solution from her belt and poured a little of it onto the place where the neck and head had been severed.

When this was done, the head was safe enough for Kurai to tie onto a piece of cord and sling across her back. The rest of the cleaning would have to wait until she was back on the ship. She didn't do a perfect job, and a certain Yautja noted it, but it would have to do for now.

This process took about five minutes, and Kurai wished that she had more time, but it couldn't be helped now. The sounds of shrieking told them that others may well be claiming their own trophies soon.

Sure enough; the Xenomorphs came in droves now. Drones, Runners and what looked like a Warrior or two came out of the tunnels, shrieking for the blood of the ones responsible for the death of the Drone. Kurai counted about fifteen; a small group, but more than a match for the small band of Unblooded. They obviously smelled the gore on Kurai; because the majority of them went after her.

She managed to fend off a few; wounding them enough to make them back off temporarily. In a moment, however, they were back on their feet and ready for a second round. The others all took the opportunity to fire at the Xenos; lighting the whole place up with their blasts. Xenomorphs fell left and right; some dead, some still twitching in pain. The ones who were alive were dispatched by the males who weren't using their guns.

At last, the majority of the Xenos had been dealt with, and the ones who were still alive retreated into the many tunnels in the walls and ceiling. The Unblooded males began to claim their trophies, each making double sure that that particular Xenomorph was indeed the one he'd killed. Watching them, Kurai remembered that Ko had told her once that a Yautja who took the trophy of another was, whether he was found out or not, condemned to the underworld by the gods until he confessed his or her crime to an Arbitrator and begged forgiveness of the gods.

They began to claim their trophies, working quickly so as not to be caught off guard by the rest of the hive. Soon, everyone, including Taki, had a Xenomorph head slung across his back.

"Okay, so we've got what we need?" Kurai asked, looking around at the other five people in the group. They all nodded, and prepared to leave as soon as they could.

They had just turned around and begun to leave, when a familiar scream made all of them whip around suddenly. They stared open-mouthed at what they were witnessing.

"TAKI!" Kurai screamed, as she saw her friend disappear up into the ceiling, a pair of clawed hands gripping is shoulders.


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XXVIII

"TAKI!" Kurai screamed again, her cries echoing off the walls around her. She quickly jumped up onto a small ledge, intending to follow the Xenomorph.

"Are you insane, Ooman?" Chi called, as the girl was about to disappear into the tunnel herself.

"No; I'm going to get my friend back!" she called.

"You can't; he's probably already either been cocooned or eaten by now! Forget him; you have your trophy, let's go!" Bakuub called, then turned to leave.

"I…will…NOT leave him here!" Kurai screamed, crawling further into the tunnel. The space was large enough for a Xenomorph to crawl through, so it was more than large enough for Kurai, and she made her way through the tunnel inch by inch; hoping that she didn't meet anything…else…in the confined space.

In a moment, she felt…something…bump into her rear. Her heart pounded hard as she slowly reached around to touch…metal?

"Your hand's in my eye." Chi's voice was a little muffled, but Kurai could make it out clear as a bell.

"Chi? Why are you here?" Kurai asked, as Chi backed up a little. A small "Oomph!" sounded behind them.

"I'm coming with you, insane Ooman. Bakuub's here, too; he said he wouldn't be outdone by any pauk-de, so he's behind me now."

"Damn right I am; I will not have an _Ooman_ taking home more trophies than me!" Bakuub said haughtily from somewhere in the darkness.

"What about the other three?" Kurai asked, inching ahead once again.

"They decided to turn tail and go back to the rendezvous point before anything else goes wrong, the cowards!" Bakuub sneered. A smacking sound was heard, and a cry of "Ow! What was that for?" from the smartass.

"They're not cowards; in fact, they probably have more common sense than the three of us put together…" Chi said, then apparently began to follow Kurai again, because he occasionally bumped against her behind, giving a small "sorry" each time.

Eventually, the tunnel ended in a drop-off. Kurai put her hand down the hole and, finding that it was quite deep, had a choice to make.

"Guys," she said, turning as much as she could and looking at them through the night vision in her mask. "We've got a decision to make; there's a big hole here, and I'll bet it's the only way out, because I didn't find any branching tunnels on my way here. Here it is; you can either go down this hole with me or I'll go alone. Either way, I'm going." She said, then waited.

"…Well," Bakuub said, "I'm not going anywhere! I won't be outdone by a-"

"Pauk-de Ooman." Kurai and Chi said together, rolling their eyes, though neither could see the other doing it.

"I want to see how this plays out." Chi said simply.

"Well then, we're all agreed? Okay, let's go!" Kurai said, before crawling over to the hole and beginning to climb down the best she could.

It didn't take long, however, for her to lose her footing and hang there, almost suspended in midair, trying to figure out what to do next.

"Oh!" Kurai said, as what was presumably Chi's rear hit the top of her head.

"I'm sorry!" he said, and in a moment said it again as Bakuub did the same to him.

"What's the damn holdup down there?" Bakuub called from above.

"There's not a foothold!" Kurai called back up.

"What? I'm coming down there!" Bakuub said, then Kurai heard a scrabbling, followed by Chi growling, and Bakuub cursing.

The male was obviously trying to climb down, but was causing more of an imbalance than anything. Kurai could feel the male next to her, and kept feeling for a foothold. She found a small ledge that would serve the purpose, and tried to put her foot there but someone else had the same idea.

"Ooman, just let me…hold on a moment…Pauk!" Bakuub said, as each one of them tried to get firmer footing on the tiny outcropping of rock. Bakuub lost his hold for a moment and grabbed the first thing he could; Chi's belt.

"Don't pull me into this!" Chi said, turning around and trying to get the other male off of him.

In a moment, they were all aware of just how stupid their action were, when the foothold broke, and Kurai fell, pulling Bakuub's leg, and Bakuub pulling Chi's belt.

"Fuuuuuuuck!" Kurai cried, as she, Bakuub and Chi all fell through the darkness, unable to grab onto anything. The sides of the tunnel scraped Kurai's back painfully in an area not protected by her armor, causing hot, salty tears to well up in her eyes. Bakuub roared as he plummeted downwards, along with Chi, who was trying to use one of his shurikens to get some leverage on the walls.

It seemed like they fell for nearly a minute, but finally they hit the ground. Kurai silently whispered thanks that she didn't break her legs when she hit the hard floor.

"Good going, both of you!" Bakuub said, standing up.

"Both of us? What about you? You were the one who-" Chi started.

"Enough! We were all responsible for this mess!"Kurai snapped. "Let's go; we've gotta find Taki!"

With this, Kurai looked around; they were in a large chamber, with only one way out. "This way." Kurai said, heading out of the chamber.

The two males followed her without a word, which made things a lot easier for everyone involved. They walked on, while the place got more and more humid, and soon a faint hissing could be heard up ahead.

They didn't have time to realize it was a Xenomorph until the creature was nearly on top of them.


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XXIX

The Xenomorph came almost out of nowhere, hissing and shrieking. Kurai barely had time to reach down and get her fans before she was pinned to the ground by the creature's weight. For a moment, Kurai had the urge to say "Get off, Makoto!"

_"It's not Makoto, Kurai!" _her mind screamed, as hot drool poured from the creature's mouth, pooling onto her mask and in her hair. She struggled, using all of her force to try to get out of the grip of the Drone. The creature responded by roughly slamming her back down onto the cave floor. Kurai swore she heard a cracking sound, and felt a considerable amount of pain begin to throb in the back of her skull.

The Xeno used its considerable strength to pin her arms down at her sides, then inched its face closer to hers. The creature opened its mouth; silver fangs catching the faint light, Kurai could see the second mouth inching slowly forward. From watching Makoto, she knew what the Drone was about to do; and braced herself for the momentary pain and oblivion.

_"Taki…I'm so sorry!"_ she thought, as the vicious fangs drew ever closer to her face. She was sure that neither Chi nor Bakuub would go try to find Taki, and her heart ached to think of him there, encased in resin, scared out of his mind and awaiting the horrible fate that would happen when the young Xenomorph was born-that was, if he was still alive. Her vision began to blur, confirming a small thought that she might have a concussion. "No…I can't die here…" she thought. The last thing she saw was the fanged maw growing closer…

Kurai awoke in a sitting position against the cave wall. She moaned and looked around, trying to figure out what had happened. Looking down, the girl saw her fans laying at her side. Picking them up, she began to stand, using the wall as a support.

"Easy, Ooman; you've suffered quite an injury."

Kurai looked in the direction of the voice to see Chi. He was squatting in front of a large black shape, occasionally making movements with his knife.

"Is that…did you…?" she asked, taking a step in his direction.

"Yes, I killed it. I desired another trophy….and besides; I wasn't in the mood to watch you die, Ooman." He said, lifting something that Kurai realized was the Xenomorph's head into the air to examine it.

"Where's Bakuub?" she asked, looking around.

"Right here; I was the one who brought Chi to his senses enough for him to shoot the kiande amedha." The young male said from Kurai's left. He came into view, puffing out his chest and trying to look important.

"No; you got hit by the tail and spent the remainder of the time against the wall, whimpering because the blade on the tip raked your arm!" Chi snapped, tying the head to his back along with the other one.

"In any case, thank you, Chi; I owe you." She said, wanting to avoid another fight; her head hurt enough already.

"Oh, for the love of fuck; how long was I out?" she asked.

"About thirty minutes, why?" Bakuub asked, kicking a rock.

"What do you mean "why"? Why the hell do you think I came down here? Taki could be hurt or…" her voice trailed off.

"Dead; your Ooman friend could be dead." Bakuub said, and there was a small thud as Chi threw a piece of resin at him.

"Let's go." Kurai said, trying to shake off the pain in her head. Reaching around, she felt the back of her head; her hair was matted with the Xenomorph's drool, as well as what she knew was her own blood. The smell of iron wafted into her nose, making her slightly queasy.

She continued on, and was soon aware of the two males following her. They walked in the tunnels for another five minutes, not running into any more Xenomorphs, until they reached a large chamber, in which was something that made them jump back.

"Eggs!" Bakuub whispered, horrified.

"Lots of them!" Chi said, looking nervously around the room. This room was death for anyone who was not of these creatures' hive.

"Okay, if we move around the room against the wall, we should be able to avoid any major trouble." Kurai said, and indeed, there was about a five foot gap between the edge of the large cluster of eggs and the cave wall. If they were to walk along this, with their backs pressed against the wall, they might just be able to pass through unnoticed.

"All right; I'll trust your judgment, Ooman." Chi said, shaking his head.

Carefully, they pressed their backs against the rough cave wall and began to inch their way through the room. In the middle of the room, Kurai thought she heard something. Lifting her head, she strained her ears to try to hear it again.

_"Help! Kurai! Help me!"_

"Taki!" she whispered.

"What did you say, Ooman?" Chi said. He'd come up behind her and was now looking in the same direction that she was.

"I just heard Taki's voice coming from that direction." She said, pointing straight ahead.

"All right; let's get there and get the pauk out of here!" Bakuub hissed from the end of the line.

Kurai took his advise and began to inch along the wall again, but this time, she was going as fast as she dared. Finally, she was out of the room; Chi and Bakuub following close behind.

There was a small hallway leading out of the room, and it was this that they were walking through at the moment. Kurai strained her ears to hear a sign of Taki again, but there was none right now. The voice came from straight ahead, so it was in this direction that Kurai decided to go.

They continued on through a room that looked as though it once held dozens of cocoons, and a room where it seemed like there were empty eggs and old facehuggers. Kurai knew from Makoto that Xenomorphs didn't keep waste like this around for long, so it was likely that these items were scheduled to be removed from the hive soon.

"Help me!" they all heard it this time; and began to pick up the pace.

They kept on going straight, and Taki's cries got louder the further they walked. Finally, there was a corner up ahead, and as they turned it, they gasped at what they saw.


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XXX

Kurai gasped; Taki was indeed there, but he wasn't alone.

The young man was encased in resin and stuck to the wall, but wasn't this that was the most horrifying. There, in front of him, were dozens of Xenomorph eggs.

Tears welled up in Kurai's eyes, making her mask uncomfortable. "Taki…" she whispered.

"KURAI!" He cried, raising his head.

"Taki, I'm here!" she said, stepping forward a bit. Chi grabbed her shoulder roughly, holding her back. Kurai struggled a bit, but Chi still held her back and hissed in her ear.

"Are you mad? You can't just run into a room filled with kiande amedha eggs!" he said.

"Then what do we do?" she asked desperately.

"My advice; let me use my smart-disc to end him quickly. He's probably already been infected; there's nothing you can do at this point."

"We can take him to the ship; they'll get it out of him!" she suggested.

"Even if we got out of here with him without meeting any more kiande amedha, we wouldn't be able to keep him alive until the ship comes back! Just let me finish this; let me put him out of his misery before he suffers one of the most horrible fates imaginable." He said, raising one of his discs.

"No! There's a chance that he hasn't been impregnated yet!" Kurai said.

"A chance? Ooman, you truly are out of your mind…. I'll let you go, but if either one of you gets infected, I will kill you." Chi said, letting her go.

"Fine!" Kurai said, and began to make her way slowly through the room. This one was much like the other one; with a small path going around the edge of room, with the majority of the eggs in the center. With her back against the wall, Kurai inched slowly toward her friend.

"Kurai…you came for me!" Taki said, and Kurai noted that he was crying.

"Of course I did; I really can't believe you thought I wouldn't!" she said, and she was crying as she inched closer.

Taki was bound to the wall with hard black resin; most of his torso exposed. Kurai knew that this was so the young Xenomorph chestburster could free itself after birth. Seeing him like that gave the girl a sinking feeling in her chest; what if he was…?

She had to know; she just couldn't watch him die like that. She needed to find out if he truly was doomed. There was no way that she could remove the creature herself, if he had been impregnated; and she didn't know if she could really just let Chi follow through on his promise. She had to know; she just had to!

"Taki…" Kurai started, her voice a little shaky.

Her friend looked at her. "Yeah?" he said.

"You…you haven't been…I mean, did they…" she couldn't finish the sentence, the words just wouldn't come out.

"You mean, have I been impregnated? No; I think the eggs are too far away…They took my mask off and tossed it over there-" he nodded to his right, where Kurai could indeed see the mask, laying discarded on the ground.

"We'll get it when I'm done getting you out…" she said. She was so filled with joy when she found that her friend would be all right. Indeed, none of the eggs that she could see appeared to be hatched, and there was no dead facehugger on the ground.

At last, she was close enough to him to begin trying to remove the resin binging him to the wall. This stuff was hard; and Kurai wasn't a hundred percent sure she could get him out without assistance from Chi or Bakuub. Finally, she reached down and brought up a dagger and began to chip at the edges of the resin, hoping to be able to pry the whole thing off.

"I think it's working!" Kurai said, and began to work faster. The process took fifteen minutes, but she eventually got the stuff off of him. Taki dropped to the ground, and began to slowly, very slowly, inch toward his mask.

Kurai watched, her heart pounding, as her friend eventually got to his mask and put it on. Now there was at least some chance that he wouldn't be caught by a stray facehugger.

"Now, how do we get out of here?" Taki asked. "When they took me, I hit my head and blacked out; when I woke up, I was here." He said.

"I know the way; we'll go back that way and get the hell out of here!" Kurai said, and started back the way she came. Chi and Bakuub were standing little way outside the room, waiting for them, and she was sure that they were keen on getting out of here, too.

They were almost there, she could see the two Yautja clearly; they were almost out of this egg room and about to go down the hall again…

_"Hssssssssss" _

"Did you hear that?" Kurai asked, hoping that it was just her imagination.

"Yeah… but I wish I hadn't." Taki said. Chi and Bakuub heard it too; they were looking all around, and Chi was brandishing a shuriken in each hand. Taki took a page from his book and brought out a shuriken of his own.

"Where is it?" Kurai asked, looking around.

"I don't know any more than you do; it could be anywhere…" Taki whispered. The humans and the two Yautja were about thirty feet apart, with Kurai and Taki still in the egg chamber.

Suddenly, a scrabbling sound made them jump, and they began to look around more frantically. This would be the absolute worst place to-

Sure enough, in a moment a large black shape emerged from a hole in the ceiling and dropped down in front of them. This was no Drone; it was a fully-grown Praetorian.

"Oh, no…" Kurai moaned, seeing the Queen's guard rise before them. It looked just like Makoto…but this one was not nearly as friendly.

The Xenomorph roared and took a swipe at Taki's head, which he narrowly avoided. The creature hissed and whipped it's tail, knocking pieces of resin from the walls and sending them flying. They would definitely need a bigger place to fight, and figuring in the fact that they were still surrounded by dozens of Xenomorph eggs, the odds were stacked against them.

"We've got to get the fuck out of here and into somewhere bigger!" Taki said, seemingly reading her thoughts.

"Yeah, but how; that thing's blocking the door!" Kurai said. Bakuub and Chi were trying to creep up behind the raging Praetorian, weapons raised and ready to join in the battle. Kurai and Taki looked at each other; they were both thinking the same thing. The only choice here was to find a chamber with some space to fight, and to do that they would have to get out of the egg chamber and venture into these caverns.

"Bakuub! Chi! Get out of here! We'll handle this!" Taki said, while Kurai kept her eyes on the Praetorian. It seemed to be ignoring the two Yautja; focusing instead on the two humans.

"We're not going anywhere, Ooman; this creature can bring us great honor if we kill it!" Bakuub shot back, but Chi was a little smarter.

"Drop it, Bakuub; we can't win if we fight here! Even the Oomans know that in a small space, they're doomed! We've got trophies, let's GO!" Chi said, grabbing Bakuub's shoulder and beginning to drag him back in the direction of the entrance. The Unblooded protested loudly, but went along with the other male.

They disappeared through the tunnels, and the Praetorian looked at them for a moment over its shoulder, apparently deciding whether or not to pursue them or not. This gave the two humans enough time to begin inching their way through the chamber to the other side. There were two ways out of the room; the one that Kurai had come in previously, which was now inaccessible due to the Praetorian, which had decided to continue with its pursuit of the humans, and another smaller doorway in the back of the room. To get there, however, Kurai and Taki would have to pass through a place where the eggs were rather close to the wall. The two realized at almost the same time that inching along the wall, no matter how fast they were doing it, would not work; the Praetorian was gaining fast, and it, unlike them, didn't have to worry about the eggs.

Together, they took a deep breath and made a mad dash to the door on the other side of the room. Ko's gods must have been with them; for none of the eggs hatched during this run. The Praetorian was still chasing them, however, as they rushed from the egg chamber and made their way down a narrow tunnel. Kurai was hoping that, when they took care of this, they'd be able to find their way out of here again.

Running down the tunnel, could hear the large Xeno chasing them, hissing and shrieking all the way. Eventually, they did find a chamber that was large enough to fight in. The place was about as large as the egg chamber, but lacked any eggs. They went to the middle of the room and waited.

It didn't take long for the creature to make its appearance. It ran into the room and, seeing the two humans, gave a hiss of triumph. This was it; they'd have to win this fight or die here.

The Praetorian and the humans circled around, neither one making a move. Kurai wondered if this was the way Makoto fought; then figured it probably was. The Xenomorph gave a shriek and jumped toward them, and the battle began.


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer-Don't own AVP.**

**Okay, so I already said this in one chapter of Starting Over, but I have a new poll on my profile; so check it out if you want to. Thanks to all my fans who read and review!**

Chapter XXXI

The three met in midair; the Praetorian clawing and biting like mad, and the two humans slashing with their weapons. The smell of human blood was in the air, and the acrid stench of the acid. Droplets of the Xenomorph's blood splattered onto the floor, walls and ceiling, making tiny holes in solid rock.

Kurai and Taki knew that if they lost, they'd die here in this room; either that or be rendered unconscious to be used as hosts for the next generation of Xenomorphs.

The Praetorian gained the upper hand when it was somehow able to grab Kurai's throat and pin her to the wall. Kurai dropped her fans at the impact, and cursed herself in her head as she did so. The creature squeezed tighter, making her cough inside her mask. The world began to get hazy, and Kurai knew that she was beginning to pass out. A scream told her that the Xeno had been injured, and in a moment she was dropped hard to the floor. Looking over, she saw that Taki had used her fan to deal a slicing blow to the Praetorian's hand, making it recoil in pain. Acid blood oozed onto Kurai's armor, but had no effect on the metal. Taki handed her the fan back and smiled, making Kurai roll her crimson eyes. She quickly reached down and retrieved her other fan and readied herself for the next round. They didn't have time to play around though; for the Praetorian quickly recovered and was ready for another go.

They fought for what seemed like an eternity; dodging and countering blows, each one trying to calculate the other's moves. Kurai dodged a stab from the tail, but got a light claw swipe to the arm. Taki managed to get a hit in, but was backhanded in the face and sent sprawling onto his back on the floor. He recovered quickly, then rejoined his friend in the onslaught.

"When will this thing die?" Taki cried, countering a blow from the Praetorian's claws.

"Soon, I hope!" Kurai said back, trying to keep her body away from the Praetorian's jaws.

Finally, an opportunity came. The Xeno made a move to bite Kurai, who jumped away just in time. Taki threw his shuriken to distract the creature, who was rapidly closing the distance between itself and the girl. The shuriken hit the Praetorian in the side of the head, burying itself in the flesh. Looking around quickly, Kurai saw it; a large, thin rock jutting out of the middle of the floor below the flailing Praetorian. An idea occurred to her; if only it would work!

The creature screeched in pain and tried to dig the weapon out. This gave Kurai the chance she needed. Folding one of her fans, she rushed up to the Xeno and hit its head as hard as she could. The blow caused the Praetorian, already wounded from the Shuriken and the various other wounds, to bow its head under the force of the blow. The rock stopped the head from going all the way to the floor, and injured the creature severely. Though it didn't decapitate the Praetorian, it did cause some severe damage to its neck judging by the way it began grasping desperately at its throat. Taki took the opportunity to throw another shuriken at the Xeno's neck, injuring it further.

Kurai decided to put an end to the creature's pain, and put all her force into a blow from her open fan. The blow severed the head from the body, ending the shrieking that had been going on for the past few minutes. Acidic blood poured out of the wound in torrents, creating a crater in the floor that got deeper by the second. Taki, being careful not to touch the blood with his bare flesh, came over to examine the scene-and retrieve his shuriken. Bending down, he grabbed the throwing star and firmly yanked it out, being careful not to get any of the blood on his hands. Taking out the canister of acid-neutralizing solution, he poured a little on the weapon and shook off the excess, then put it back on his belt with the others.

"So who gets this one?" Taki asked, looking down at the twitching body. Kurai looked at it as well.

"You take it, Taki; you deserve it." She said.

"Kurai…" Taki whispered, stunned.

"Look, whether you want to admit it or not, you saved my ass just now." She said.

"Yeah, but you came to get me when they took me." He said.

"Hey, just take the damn thing." Kurai said, laughing a little. After all this, Taki deserved a little glory for a change. He still had his original trophy strung on his back, and Kurai wondered how he'd carry this one out of the caverns. Bending down, Taki began to quickly prepare the head. In no time, he had made it safe for transport and stood, ready to leave.

The two started out of the room and began to head back to the egg room where Kurai found Taki. Along the way, Taki had a thought.

"Kurai." He said.

"Yeah?" she asked, looking around in case there were any more Xenomorphs waiting in the tunnels or the various holes in the walls and ceiling to finish them off.

"That thing was a Praetorian, right?"

"If I know my Xenos, yeah." She said.

"Well, Praetorians guard the Queen, and we just fought one, so does that mean that we were getting close to the Queen's chamber? I mean, all those eggs and everything…" he said thoughtfully.

"You know, I wondered about that too; and there was something else, too." Kurai said.

"What's that?" Taki said.

"This hive doesn't look new, and those eggs tell me that there's a fully fertile Queen, so then, why were there so few Xenos?" Kurai said.

"What do you mean?" Taki asked.

"Well, this place is so big; shouldn't there be a lot more Xenomorphs here? Makoto told me that his original hive had a lot of members, but so far I doubt if we've seen so many as twenty!"

"Yeah, I've noticed that…I wonder what's up…but don't jinx it, okay? If we have a chance to get out of here without meeting a hundred Xenomorphs, I'll gladly take it!" he said.

"Me too; but I'm just saying, It's weird, is all." Kurai muttered, while they continued to walk.

They continued to walk until they got to the egg chamber, then pressed their backs against the wall and began to go through. Halfway through, Kurai's spirits lifted a little; they'd gotten what they came for, and now they were getting out of here. They'd hit a little snag, sure; but they'd gotten through it and they were alive. Taki had two trophies, so for once, he'd get a little praise. Everything was going all right so far; they were almost out of the egg chamber…

"Oh, fuck…" Kurai whispered, as another Praetorian dropped from the ceiling. The creature hissed and began to advance in their direction, and they began to, once again, inch quickly back in the other direction.

"Oh, fuck!" Taki said, as another Praetorian dropped down on their other side. The creatures began to slowly close in on them; they were trapped…


	32. Chapter 32

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XXXII

"Come _on_!" Kurai said, as the two creatures advanced on the pair of humans.

They kept inching closer together, until they were pressed side-by-side against the wall. Kurai looked around…and saw it.

"Taki, look!" she whispered hurriedly, gesturing ahead. There was another opening in the wall, about five feet wide, on the far side of the room. They hadn't seen it before…and for good reason.

The eggs were all bunched together in the middle of the room, forming a kind of rough circle about fifty feet wide, with a few feet of space between the outer edges and the wall. The Praetorians were inching closer, but, oddly enough, hadn't attacked yet. They were about six feet away from the humans, and were more than able to jump that far, but held their attacks…for now. The only way out of here was to run the gauntlet through the mass of eggs and hope that none of them hatched.

"On three!" Kurai yelled, preparing to run.

"One…" The Praetorians advanced hissing and swishing their tails.

"Two…"

"Three!" They ran, heading into the mass of eggs. Kurai waited for them to explode all around them, releasing the facehuggers inside, but none seemed to be hatching…

The Xenomorphs followed them, but they walked, rather than ran. The two humans kept running, heading for the small opening in the wall.

"They're not chasing us…they're _herding_ us!" Kurai said, and Taki looked at her for a moment before replying.

"Yeah, they could've had us dead and half eaten by now, but instead they're…they're trying to make us go into that opening; they know that we have nowhere else to go, and that we want to get away from these eggs…but how?" he asked.

"They're telepathic, remember? They can predict our every move if they want to. They could figure out our every strategy within seconds of us thinking of it!" she said.

They jumped through the hole in the wall and found themselves at a fork in the tunnels. The Praetorians stopped at the entrance to the tunnel, hissing and growling.

"What the hell are they doing?" Taki asked.

This question was answered when the faint light from the tunnel gradually began to fade.

"They-they're sealing us in!" Kurai cried.

Indeed, the Xenomorphs were beginning to seal the entrance with resin; but there were more than just the two Praetorians now. Several Drones had begun to help, moving their jaws and excreting the sticky resin, which hardened in mere moments. The two could only stand there and watch as the Xenos worked on sealing them in and wonder what their plan was.

At last, the place was completely dark, and the only way they could see was through their masks. Kurai walked up to the large patch of resin and hesitantly listened for any signs of the Xenomorphs beyond. Hearing nothing, she took out her fan and tried to slice at the hard material.

"Not even a scratch…this stuff is hard!" Kurai observed quietly, backing away from the spot.

"They probably put a lot of layers on it to keep us in here." Taki said.

"Probably, but for what purpose? They could have killed us if they wanted to back there."

"I don't know, but let's try to find a way out of here before we find out." With this, Taki began to cautiously explore the tunnel they were in now. The place had two possible paths going right and left. Unwilling to split up at this point, Kurai and Taki took the left path first, intending to double back later.

They found themselves in a small room, only ten feet around, which actually had a very small opening high in the ceiling, which let in a little light from the outside. Looking up, they could see a little bit of sky, and a glimpse of a tree branch.

"Could we climb out of here through that hole?" Kurai asked.

"No; it's way too small for us to fit…" Taki said. This room was a complete dead end, and the only other way to possibly advance now would be to go back and take the right path to who knows where. The two decided that they would take a short break before continuing, and sat down on a large rock that was protruding out of the floor. They took off their masks and breathed in the fresh air coming in fro the hole in the ceiling.

"Okay, so what do we know so far?" Kurai asked, taking a couple of pieces of dried meat from a pouch on her belt and handing one to Taki. The two munched on the meat for a moment before continuing the conversation.

"Well, there's relatively few Xenomorphs for a hive this size. They sealed us in this tunnel, forcing us to go down that right path. They're probably probing our minds right now, and we can't do a damn thing about it. I have one question though; why can't we talk to them like we can with Makoto and Shisome?" Taki asked.

"Because Makoto and Shisome wanted to talk with us. These Xenos aren't like the ones we know; they want to kill us because we invaded their home. To tell the truth, if we'd met Makoto and Shisome under these circumstances, they'd likely do the same thing." Kurai said.

"So what now? What do we do; there's no going back the way we came."

"We have to play the Xenos' game…for now. There's no other choice at this point than to take the right path and see where it leads us." Kurai said, finishing her food and wiping her mouth. Standing, she put her mask back on and took one last look up at the hole in the ceiling. Taki followed suit and the two headed out of the chamber and down the tunnel to the right path.

Breathing deeply, they headed down the path, weapons drawn, and hoping that they didn't meet any more Xenomorphs. This tunnel was longer than the other one, and got incredibly wide as they progressed, and the walls didn't look like the natural rock in the rest of the cave…they were almost…smooth…in texture, as though they had been carved by chisels or…

"I think these walls were carved out and made wider by Xenos." Taki said, looking around tunnel.

"Yeah; I was thinking the same thing, but why widen them so much?" Kurai asked.

They went on, noticing that there seemed to be several more huge tunnels branching off of this one, but they, too were blocked off by resin.

Finally, they seemed to be reaching the end of the long path. A chamber could be seen through the nigh vision in their masks, and it even looked as though there was light coming from the roof of this room.

"Kurai…I wonder…do you think that the Xenos are trying to tell us that they want us to leave?" Taki asked. "I mean, no others have come to try and kill us for a while, and there seems to be some kind of exit up ahead so maybe…"

"I highly doubt that they're gonna just let us go." Kurai said, looking ahead.

"Only one way to find out, right?" Taki said.

"Yeah." Kurai said. Together, they walked into the chamber…and came face to face with the Queen.


	33. Chapter 33

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XXXIII

"Oh…my…gods…" Taki whispered.

The Queen hissed menacingly from where she stood, attached to her massive, pulsing egg sac. The Queen was massive, but the large, pinkish mass protruding from her body was nearly twice her size. The thing was held up by strings of resin that were attached to the ceiling, keeping the Queen immobile, but she was still an incredibly frightening figure.

She was black as night, with four pairs of arms; two large primary ones like the rest of her kind, and two smaller ones a little below that. On her head was a massive crest of bone, so unlike the smooth, elongated head of the Drones or the three-pointed crest of the Praetorians. Her body had to be at least twenty feet long, without her tail, and she was at least twenty feet tall. The Queen extended her smaller set of jaws; which were as big as a normal Drone's entire mouth. Drool fell in slimy ropes from the Queen's mouth, making her silver fangs glisten in the light.

Looking up, the humans could see that a good portion of the roof of this chamber had caved in, and the rubble was lying on the floor all around them. The Queen was situated in such a way that she was under the remaining part of the roof, probably to protect her from the elements. The hole in the ceiling was by far big enough for them to get out of; big enough for even the huge Queen to get through with ease. There were several large vines climbing up the rubble toward the sunlight, telling the two humans that whatever had caused the partial cave-in had happened some time ago.

"Well…what now?" Taki asked.

"I…I don't know, but at least she can't mo-" Her words were cut off by the Queen's shriek.

The massive Xenomorph was now struggling violently. She screamed as she thrashed around, and it took the humans a couple of moments to figure out exactly what she was doing.

"Oh, no…" they said together.

The Queen, meanwhile, had broken the resin holding her egg sac up, and was now straining against the massive weight. Soon, a loud ripping sound could be heard, and the Queen screamed even louder.

The egg sac began to dislodge from the Queen's body, spilling fluid and acid blood onto the Xeno's body and the floor, causing the parts that it touched to melt. In a moment, she had torn free of the egg sac, and stood, panting, in the middle of the room. The large organ she had torn free of lay on the floor, pulsing a few times before going still, slime still oozing from it.

The large female took a moment to recover from the painful ordeal, then screeched, letting her voice echo from the walls around them. The sound was like demons from hell, making the caverns seem all the more eerie.

The two humans turned to try and get back into the long tunnel, but found that the entrance to the Queen's chamber had already been sealed with resin.

"I think…I think that the Queen wants to take care of us herself…that's why they're doing this!" Kurai said.

"But…but why?" Taki said, all the while keeping an eye on the Xenomorph.

"That part I don't know; but it's not important right now!" Kurai said, as the Xeno roared her fury and charged at the two humans.

The female was large, but she was not slow. She crossed the distance between them in a matter of seconds, making them jump out of the way to avoid a fatal bite. They had been standing in front of a wall, and the Xeno had crashed into it with such force that it sent vibrations throughout the room, and small pieces of rock fell down from the ruined ceiling.

"Taki; we'll never be able to take her in here! We've gotta climb out of here and get to some open ground!" Kurai yelled, as the Queen recovered from the impact; shaking her massive head.

"Go; I got your back!" Taki said, pulling out a shuriken.

"We can go together!" Kurai called, looking up at the rubble. The massive pile of rocks sloped up from the cave floor, providing a relatively easy climb, if they could get up there before the Queen did.

"No; get going, I'll take care of this! Anyway; I still owe you for saving my tight ass!" Taki yelled again. Kurai nodded and began to run to the pile of rubble.

Though she didn't like the idea of either leaving Taki or turning her back to the Queen, Kurai began to quickly climb up the massive pile of rocks.

The debris must have been there for years, because the vines that were there held the rocks in place while the girl climbed up them. All the while, she hoped that Taki was doing all right. The ceiling of the chamber must have been quiet high at one point, because the climb was taking a lot longer than she had thought. At one point, she looked around to see Taki throwing a shuriken at the Queen's head. The young man must have thrown the weapon very hard, for the throwing star embedded itself deep within the Queen's head, causing her to throw her head back and shriek in pain.

Taki looked as though he wanted to retrieve the weapon, but made up his mind that it wouldn't be in his best interests to try. Seizing the opportunity, he ran past the Queen, who was thrashing around in pain from the wound; dodging her whipping tail as he did so. He made it to the bottom of the pile of rocks and began to climb quickly upwards.

Kurai waited for him to join her, and the two began to climb together. The top of the pile was in sight, and they could see trees beginning to poke over the edge.

A scratching sound made them turn around, and they gasped as they saw the Queen climbing up the rubble after them; and advancing quickly. The shuriken was still embedded in her head, streaming acidic blood down her face and onto the rocks, which began to melt as soon as the highly corrosive fluid touched them.

"FUCK!" The humans said together, and began to climb faster. Though they didn't have a very good chance of winning this fight back in the chamber, they had an even worse chance on this rocky slope. The only chance they had of even surviving this was to get to the top of the pile of debris to level ground.

And so they climbed faster, putting their entire focus on getting up onto the surface. They climbed desperately, using all their strength to pull themselves along. Kurai looked down at one point to see that her hands were bleeding, but paid it no mind.

At long last, they reached the top of the pile, and began to run. They didn't know what the top of the caves would be like, and they didn't care; so long as they got to some open ground.

Luck was again on their side; the top of the caves was relatively flat, and not covered in resin. They were able to run on this surface, as long as they were careful of their footing.

Taking off, they ran in the direction of the cave's entrance. Kurai remembered seeing a large clearing near the caverns, and to this that she wanted to lead the enraged Queen.

They ran for what seemed like forever, both all too aware that the Queen was gaining on them. They could hear the creature behind them and at one point, Kurai could have sworn she felt a hot breath on her neck.

Finally, they came to a steep incline. Looking down, they could see the entrance where they started this whole thing. Being careful, but quick, they began to make their way down the slope.

Slipping and sliding, they made their way to level ground as quickly as they could. The Queen was right behind them, but she was much better at jumping down the slope than they were. She was on the ground a few yards away before the two humans could even get their ground.

Kurai took one look at Taki and the two bolted; running as fast as they possibly could.

"Where are we going, Kurai?" Taki asked as they ran. A loud crash made them look behind them, and they saw that the Queen had crashed through the branch of a rather large tree.

"There was a big clearing on the way here, we can fight her there." She said.

They kept running until they saw the clearing ahead of them. Dashing into the open area, they turned to see the Queen crash through the trees.

The large Xenomorph looked around the clearing, then at the humans. For some reason, Kurai got the impression that the Queen somehow knew what why she had been led here.

Taking a deep breath, the Queen roared her challenge, and rushed at the two humans on the other side of the clearing.

Taki and Kurai braced themselves; getting their weapons ready for their biggest battle yet.


	34. Chapter 34

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XXXIV

Kurai started by rushing over to the Queen and giving her a slashing blow to the head, taking the opportunity to yank Taki's shuriken out while she was at it.

The Queen shrieked as blood oozed from the wounds. The ground melted in the places where the blood touched it.

Jumping away, Kurai landed beside her friend and gave him his shuriken back. "Thought you'd need this." She said.

He shook his head as he took the shuriken from his friend, then stepped forward to take his turn with the Queen.

Raising his arm, he let fly with two shurikens at once; a talent that had taken him his entire senior year to master. The shurikens hit home; burying themselves in the Queen's flesh. She shrieked and tried to brush them away, but only succeeded in making the weapons go deeper into her ebony flesh. She screamed in pain and rage as the shurikens dug deeper, and thrashed wildly from the pain.

Taki ran up to the Queen, taking a dagger from his belt as he did so. He probably was intending to cut one of the arteries in her throat, as he went straight for her neck. This proved to be a bad move, as he was caught by the Xeno's whipping tail and was sent flying through the air. He hit a large tree nearby, and fell to the ground, unconscious.

"TAKI!" Kurai screamed, as the Queen turned her attention to the human girl.

The creature advanced on her intended victim, hissing her rage at her enemy. Kurai braced herself; this was going to be the hardest battle she'd ever fought. Taki was depending on her; and she didn't know what Ko would do if she didn't come back.

The Queen made a run at her, arching her long tail over her back, the bladed tip like a lance intending to run her through.

Kurai jumped to one side, narrowly avoiding being impaled. The Queen's tail missed her by inches and embedded itself in a nearby tree, penetrating the trunk and coming out the other side. The Queen tried to remove her tail, but was temporarily stuck in the tree. She roared in frustration as she tried to free her deadly appendage from the ruined tree trunk.

Kurai took the opportunity to run at the Queen, giving her another blow; this one to her neck. The blade slashed deeply, and Kurai was barely able to get her hand away before a deluge of acid poured out of the wound. The wound was far from shallow; but it wasn't nearly enough to kill the Xenomorph, only make her angrier. She jerked her tail free, making the tree trunk explode in a shower of leaves and splinters of wood and bark.

The human shielded her eyes instinctively, then remembered that she was wearing a mask. The Queen took the girl's momentary lapse in concentration to try and strike a blow with one of her clawed hands.

The human quickly used her fan to deflect the blow. It worked, but barely; the sheer power in that strike sent the girl back a few feet, and the Queen advanced on her.

Kurai was getting desperate now. She regretted not taking a plasma caster with her; even though Ko had told her that it was all right for her since she had proven her right to have one.

She was forced back to reality by the sound of the Queen's hissing. Looking at the creature, she saw her slowly advancing on…

"TAKI!" Kurai cried, seeing that he was still unconscious.

She got up and was about to run to him, when Ne'Renh's words suddenly forced themselves into her head.

"_On your chiva, as well as any other hunt, it's every hunter for themselves. You can't be responsible for him when you're fighting for your own life, and vice versa. He's not a pup, and you're not his mother; don't forget that."_

She felt guilty for even thinking of this, and ran toward the Queen. If she could just draw the attention away from Taki; she'd figure something out after that.

"HEY, BITCH! OVER HERE!" She screamed.

The Queen turned her crested head in the direction of the human. Like a living shadow, she began to head for the human girl once again. Kurai took off in the opposite direction; Taki would be fine on his own, as long as the Queen didn't eat him, he'd be all right.

She took the bait; following the human with a roar. Kurai didn't know where she was running to; she just knew that she wanted the Xenomorph away from her friend.

She ran about a quarter of a mile, and ended up in a rather barren piece of ground. The place was a grey wasteland as far as the eye could see. The ground here was made of a thin grey dust, and large, sharp rocks jutted out of the ground like the teeth of some monster. The skeletons of trees, long dead from lack of nutrients, broke the monotony of the landscape. The bones of large, rat-looking creatures were scattered here and there.

Kurai ducked behind one of the large rocks, just in time, too. The Queen came into view, growling deep in her throat. The girl looked around for anything she could use to kill this creature.

For some reason, Kurai thought of Shisome. She imagined that this Queen was Shisome, and then wondered what would happen if, for whatever reason, she was forced to kill the Xenomorph. The fact that she was even having that thought horrified her, and she wondered why she was having these kinds of thoughts in the first place.

Seeing the rocks gave her an idea. Glancing around at the area, Kurai saw what she needed. A long, thin rock was sticking out of the ground, but looked as though it could be easily removed; perfect!

Running out to the rock, she yelled to the Queen, who was looking around for her. "Over here!" she called. She then ran over to a much larger rock, one which definitely couldn't be moved easily and waited.

The Queen's head jerked up, the two shurikens gleaming in the light. She screamed and started to trot toward the human. Kurai only had one chance at this. Bending down, she tested to see how hard it would be to move it. Luckily, it was loose enough to move. Rocking it back and forth, Kurai was able to get it out of the ground.

A screech told her that the Queen was advancing quickly. The Xeno was now running toward her, drool flying from her open mouth.

Kurai knelt down and held her position, holding the rock upright. The rock was about nine inches around, which would serve her purpose nicely. She watched carefully as the Queen rapidly closed the distance between the two, screaming for her blood.

"NOW!" She screamed aloud, and put her plan into motion. Angling the rock into position, she braced herself for what she knew would be a tremendous impact. This was the only chance she'd have at this, and there was no room for errors.

"SCREEEEEEEECH!" The Queen screamed as she impaled herself on the long rock. The larger rock trembled with the impact, and even cracked in a couple of places. The thin rock had gone through the Queen's skeletal chest, and had come out of her back. The makeshift weapon disintegrated inside the Queen, leaving a hole in her chest that Kurai could see through. The Xenomorph screamed and thrashed around, flinging dust and rocks everywhere. The creature stumbled around and slammed her full weight into the large rock, forcing Kurai to jump out of the way to avoid being either crushed or stabbed by the Queen's many sharp spines, claws, and of course, the tail.

It seemed to take hours for the Xenomorph to finally die, and even longer for her screams to do the same. They echoed around the barren landscape, bouncing off the rocks and making it seem as though there were a thousand Xenomorphs around. Finally, the creature fell to the ground, dead.

Kurai was both relieved and a little sad. "This is what'll happen to Shisome if the Yautja find out about her." She thought. Her eyes watered as she thought of this, and she felt a little guilty. She remembered Makoto's story, about how his family was killed, and wondered if the person who killed his Queen felt proud about what they'd done.

"Am I any better than them?" she thought to herself, looking at the body of the Queen. She'd just done to this Queen's hive what the military had done to Makoto's family. Kurai wondered what would become of the others in the hive now; would they die off? Would a new Queen be born?

"Nothing I can do now…" She thought. Rising, Kurai brought out her fans and got to work…


	35. Chapter 35

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

**Heys again! Here's the newest chapter, and please visit my poll on my profile page!**

Chapter XXXV

"Taki….Taki….wake up…"

Taki opened his eyes and noticed that his mask was off. Looking around, he saw Kurai kneeling down in front of him.

"What's going on; what happened?" he asked. He looked over to one side and saw his mask, laying on the ground at the base of the tree he was under.

"The Queen knocked you out when you tried to attack again; you've been in dreamland for about two hours. I was getting worried." She said.

Taki reached up and felt his head; a large bump was there, purple and swollen. He'd taken quite a blow to the head, and while his mask had taken a great deal of the impact, the young man had sill ended up blacking out.

"God, my head hurts…what happened while I was out? I don't see the Queen, and we're not in the afterlife; so did you…?"

"Yeah…I killed her." Kurai said, looking away. She was still feeling weird about the whole thing and there was something else that bothered her. She had given Taki the head of the Praetorian so that he could get some glory for once, but now…

"_Now I've come back with the head of a Queen, and showed him up again."_ She'd thought as she was preparing the huge head. It had taken her some time, effort, and two containers of the acid-dissolving solution. She'd somehow managed to carry the head back to the clearing, despite the fact that she was weary from all that had happened today.

Taking a deep breath, Kurai told her friend about the events that occurred when he was unconscious. His dark eyes went wide when she told him about how he actually killed her.

"Oh Kurai! That was epic! I can't believe you figured that out in such a short amount of time! It was brilliance, pure and simple! You took the head, right? _PLEASE_ tell me you took the head!" he said.

"Yeah, it's over there." She said, nodding her head to indicate the direction. Taki looked over and whistled at the huge head laying on the ground.

"Oh, I took the liberty of getting these back for you." Kurai said, handing him his shurikens, which she had removed while preparing the head.

"Thanks; hey, it's getting dark, we should get back to the rendezvous point with the rest of the Unblooded. I want to see Bakuub's face when he sees this!" he pointed to the head.

"Me too…hey, I hate to ask you this, Taki; but will you help me carry this thing?" Kurai asked.

"No problem; but I don't know how we'll get it there." Taki said, standing and putting on his mask.

"I've thought of that, and I've come up with an idea. We can use the tree branches as a kind of carrier. We'll hold them between us and put the Queen's head on them. That way, the weight will be evenly distributed between the two of us, any acidic blood won't get on us and we'll be able to go a lot faster that way." She said.

"Sounds like a plan; let's get moving" Taki said, and the two began to cut branches. Soon they had the head between them on the branches, and they began to walk back to the drop off point.

When they set out that morning, the journey to the hive had taken about two hours, but because the two of them were tired, and because the weight of the large head slowed them down, it took them about three hours to get there.

Finally, they saw the orange glow of a fire in the distance, and quickened their pace. After a couple of minutes, they could detect the savory scent of meat roasting and hear the sounds of laughing and talking. They quickened their pace, trying not to trip on anything in the ever deepening darkness.

At last, they neared the fire enough to actually be able to hear the kindling that made it pop and crackle. Kurai had an idea, and turned to Taki to tell him. They whispered for a moment, then agreed. Setting the makeshift carrier down in a large clump of bushes where it couldn't be seen, Kurai and Taki made sure that their original trophies weren't visible before venturing into the campsite.

The five Unblooded were gathered around the campfire, sitting on the ground. They had a large bird-looking creature on a spit over the fire, and it was this that smelled so good. The three Unblooded whose names the humans didn't know were sitting and talking loudly amongst themselves, while Chi and Bakuub sat a little way away, apparently not saying a word to anyone.

"Heyness!" Taki said, strolling into the campsite. All their heads turned in their direction, and Bakuub and Chi looked up sharply from whatever thoughts they were having.

"Oomans…you're alive…" one of the nameless Unblooded said, taking a piece of meat from the bird.

"I…I can't believe it…I'd thought…after this long…amazing!" Chi said.

"Paya must find you amusing…" Bakuub said, but didn't really sound too disappointed that they'd actually come back.

"Aw, did you miss me, big boy?" Taki asked.

"I just wanted you to see my trophy; it's one of the higher ranking kiande amedha." Bakuub gloated, holding up the head of the Warrior Xenomorph.

"Nice…nice; but I mine is pretty good." Taki said, taking the Drone skull from his back.

"Yours? Ha! That's just a normal kiande amedha; it's nothing special." Bakuub sneered.

"Oh, wait…this is the wrong one…I meant this one."Taki said, showing the Praetorian's head to the group. The Unblooded gasped, and the one from before dropped his piece of meat, still steaming onto his lap. In a moment, he let out a yelp and retrieved the food.

"You must have…you couldn't have killed…not when I…" the arrogant youth stammered, while Chi laughed behind him. Kurai couldn't help but laugh at Chi, who seemed so dignified.

Bakuub rose and almost ran up to Kurai. "You dare to laugh at me? What do you have to be so proud of? You only got one regular kiande amedha; you were surpassed by your inferior friend." He said angrily.

Taki looked at Kurai, and she cold tell that he was smiling behind his mask. "Well…I did get a little something…extra." Kurai said. At first, she wanted to just surprise everyone, but after Bakuub called Taki inferior, she really wanted to make this little smartass squirm.

"Where is it then, Ooman?" Bakuub snarled.

"Come with me…all of you." Kurai said in a sing-song voice. She and Taki began to walk back to the bushes where they'd left he Queen's head. They got there and Kurai pulled the bushes aside. She's expected there to be a few gasps and whispers, and there were, but Bakuub's loud roar cut the night's silence like a knife.

"HOW CAN THIS BE POSSIBLE! YOU'RE JUST AN OOMAN!" He cried, looking at the Queen's head. The light of the planet's moon made the chitin that was her skin shine eerily in the darkness, sending a chill down Kurai's spine.

"By…by Paya…" Chi whispered. The other Unblooded just stared, their eyes wide, at the head.

"So…what were you saying about me being just an Ooman?"Kurai said, and Taki snickered behind his mask.

Bakuub's eyes went wide, and he fell to his knees and bowed his head in defeat, his dreads falling around his shoulders and obscuring his face. "You win…" he said quietly. "I give up…you win."

"I wasn't playing…neither of us was." Kurai said, kneeling down to Bakuub's level. She realized a second before that she had not only taught him a lesson; she'd probably destroyed his self confidence. This kid had been raised the same ego that all his species had, and Kurai, a person whom he'd thought so inferior, had just showed him up in such a way as to make him look like a complete fool.

Bakuub looked up at the human, and actually gave a small smile. "You're a worthy huntress, Ooman." He said quietly.

"And you'll make a fine hunter, Bakuub." She said.

"You know, I think…I look forward to training with you once we're back o the ship…I never thought that I'd see an Ooman as an equal, but you've certainly proven your right to be in the Silver Crescent Clan." He said, standing.

"I look forward to it; and my name's Kurai." The human said.

"All right, I think I can at least call you by your name, Kurai." With this, Bakuub walked over to the fire and sat down.

Chi came and stood beside the human, still looking in awe at the Queen's head, which seemed to be almost grinning at them.

"I can't believe it; a kiande amedha Queen's head brings the hunter who acquired it an enormous amount of honor. I've only seen one in my entire life, and that was when my father stopped by my mother's clan once to see me. His Elder had one that had been passed down through his family for generations. The head was bigger than I was at the time, and it frightened me. To think that you…an Ooman, killed such a creature…Paya must have big plans for you."

"Perhaps, but I'm a little worried about Bakuub; I've met his kind before. They can't stand being wrong, and they break easily when they are. I just hope that he doesn't, like, go crazy or something." Kurai said.

"He's always been stubborn; even when we were pups he always hated to lose to anyone." Chi said.

"What do you mean, "when you were pups"?"

"Oh, I suppose I forgot to mention; Bakuub is a cousin of mine. His mother is my mother's cousin, so we're distant, but our maternal clans are friendly with each other, and they sometimes came to mingle with each other."

"Whoa…didn't see that one coming…" Kurai said.

"Anyway, let's get this into camp; the ship will be coming the day after tomorrow, so we'll need to have it here to present to the Elder." One of the Unblooded said.

They helped Kurai get the head into the campsite, where they set it at the base of a large tree. They then all sat down to eat. Luckily, there was a small river nearby where Kurai and Taki washed their hands before sitting down to dinner. The two humans were a little hesitant to try the bird like creature, but found that it tasted a great deal like turkey, but slightly more tough and spicy.

After a good meal, they all began to find places to lie down. In a few moments, Kurai could hear snores coming from the others. She thought about tomorrow; what would they do all day? And what about when the ship came to get them? She had to admit, she liked the idea of seeing the faces of the hunters onboard when they saw her trophy.

These thoughts went through her head, and eventually she fell asleep.


	36. Chapter 36

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XXXVI

The next morning, Kurai and Taki got up before the others. They wanted to take the opportunity to bathe in the river nearby and get the blood and dirt off their bodies. After a quick scan with the wrist computer, the humans decided that the water was fit to bathe in and played rock paper scissors to see who got the first turn. Taki won, so Kurai went back to the campfire to wait for her turn.

Fifteen minutes later, Taki returned and Kurai went down to the river. Stripping off her armor, she let out a little sigh as she stepped into the cool water. The river was moving at a good pace, but not fast enough for Kurai to worry about being swept under by the current. Lying down, she let the water run through her hair, getting all the previous days' sweat and dirt out of the long black locks. When she was finished, she dried herself as best she could and put her armor back on. Walking back to the campfire, she began to run her fingers through her hair, then began to braid it.

Finally, the others began waking up. They apparently had the same idea as the humans, because one by one they all went down to the river to bathe. When everyone was finished, they got to the task of getting breakfast. Splitting into two units, Kurai, Taki and Chi went to go find wood for the fire, while Bakuub and the other three Unblooded went to go hunt something to eat.

Finally, everyone had done their jobs and they had sat down to eat. The Unblooded had brought another bird-like creature, and Kurai and Taki had made a nice little fire. As they ate, they swapped stories about their pasts. Finally, the conversation turned to how Kurai got the Queen's head. Although she was at first reluctant to reveal the events of the previous day, the Unblooded talked her into it. She told them about the previous day.

They were practically cheering by the time she was finished, and even Bakuub was looking impressed.

"Amazing!" one of the Unblooded said, when Kurai had sat down again.

"That was truly some quick thinking!" Chi said, tossing one of the bones of the bird away.

"I can't wait to see Elder Yeyinde's face when you show him your trophy, Ooman!" another Unblooded said.

"Oh, that'll be so good!" Yet another Unblooded put in. Kurai suddenly had a thought.

"Say, I know Chi and Bakuub, but what are your names?" she asked the other three Unblooded.

"Mine is Hami." One light green Unblooded with black spots said. He had gotten a small, but very noticeable Xenomorph claw swipe to his chest that had already began to heal.

"I'm Ajino." This was a dark grey one with green blotches and a bandaged upper arm.

"Ume." Said the last one, a brown one with black spots here and there.

"Okay; I'm Kurai and this is Taki, now we know each other's names." Kurai said.

"Well, that's one thing out of the way; now all we have to do is wait until the ship comes to pick us up tomorrow afternoon. I'm sure we can survive that long." Ajino said.

"You can never be sure of anything." Hami said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ume asked, taking a bite out of a large drumstick.

"Ugh! Chew with your mouth closed!" Ajino said looking away.

"Soooorry!" Ume said, rolling his eyes.

"Whatever. I meant that a thousand things could happen before tomorrow. You're a hunter; you should know that your life is never guaranteed to last another day. The smallest mistake could mean injury or death for you; that's the way it is for our race." Hami explained, as the others listened.

"My grandfather always told me that there are certain things that you can say that are absolutely guaranteed to make a bad situation about ten times worse." Kurai said thoughtfully.

"And what are they?" Bakuub asked.

"Well, let me think… One of them is "things can't get any worse"; you should never say that." The human recalled, taking a piece of meat for herself.

"Oh, that's true, to be sure; but it's common knowledge." Chi put in.

"Yes; my brother's Elder told him a story about once when he was just Blooded. He said that he had just killed his first Ooman, and about ten more came out of the forest around him. He was with a comrade who just happened to utter the words "things can't possibly get any worse". The next thing the two of them knew, the Oomans had called in their military!" This was from Hami.

"What happened to your brother's Elder?" Taki asked, making a couple of them jump. He'd been pretty quiet all morning.

"They were forced to set off their wrist bombs. They got away with some burns and scratches, but they were all right. I heard that the Elder's friend was killed some years later by a kiande amedha Queen."

"How sad…" Kurai said quietly.

"Not really; he undertook the hunt, and he knew what could happen if he did."

The other Yautja all nodded in unison. Kurai listened to them and began to think. What must it be like to just accept such a fate? She had always been taught to never surrender. Even if things were hopeless, it was better to go down fighting than lie down and die. She knew that no Yautja would just accept death, but to have this "that's just how it is" attitude bothered her immensely. She'd never been one to just lie back and accept fate, and she never would be; that just wasn't who she was.

Thinking back, she recalled all the things Ko and other Yautja had told her about their sense of honor. While it was true that many of their ideals were the same as hers, many of them went against everything she believed in. For example; the Yautja notion to kill oneself if they were caught went against her personal code. She'd rather die on her feet than just blow herself up.

They talked for a while more, with each of them telling a personal story. Hami told the tale of when his clan went to one of their ally clans and he and a cousin watched the females bathe. Ajino told the tale of when he'd taken his younger sister out camping and had told her about kiande amedha. She'd gone home screaming and his mother had given him a smack that had him seeing stars for the rest of the night. Ume told about the time that his mother, aunts and grandmother set to work figuring out new recipes, and he was the one who had to try them out. He remembered this with both happiness and despair, as some of the recipes were awful. Bakuub and Chi both remembered when they'd sneaked into the bedroom of Bakuub's Matriarch and brought back one of her hair ornaments to show to the other young males. They'd won a huge bet, but were caught and made to apologize in front of both their clans.

After a while, they began to get bored of sitting around, and the males began to spar with one another. The bouts weren't for money or trophies; the males just wanted something to pass the time. Kurai was asked to join, as the Unblooded wanted to see more of her tessen jutsu. She was reluctant at first, but some encouragement from the males got her up in front of everyone to demonstrate her technique. Using Bakuub as a partner, she demonstrated the proper way to deflect a blow, slash an opponent, and strike with the folded fan. The males were all impressed, and even clapped a few times.

Kurai had just shown them a way to get one's opponent on the ground to deliver a killing stab to the throat, when a sudden noise made them all grow quiet.

"_Hsssss" _

"Did you hear that?" Kurai asked quietly, letting Bakuub up. The Yautja got up very slowly and carefully reached for his combi-stick.

"Yes, but I wish to Paya I didn't." he replied.

"You don't think…?" Taki asked.

"Yes, I do." Chi whispered. Slowly, they all put on their masks and looked around.

"How many?" Kurai asked; her mask was lying near a tree, which was near some bushes that she really didn't want to venture too near right now.

"Five that I can see." Hami said quietly, readying his plasma caster.

"I can see three more." Taki said.

"Another three over here." Ume noted.

"Eleven…we've got to kill eleven." Ajino said, shaking his head, the dreadlocks whipping his mask.

"We can do it; we have a Queen slayer on our side." Chi said, but he didn't sound so sure.

"A Queen slayer without her mask is what you have." Kurai said, eyeing said mask.

"What kind are they?" Taki asked.

"Five are low-ranking Drones, two are what you call Praetorians, and the others are Warriors." Chi counted off.

"The others shouldn't be too much trouble, but the two Praetorians will be a real challenge." Kurai noted, watching as the leaves on the bushes around them trembled, and wondering if it was only the wind.

"I'll take one of those, thank you." Bakuub said.

"And I'll take the other." Chi said determinedly. "You won't outdo me, cousin."

"Well, whichever ones you want, you'd better decide fast!" Taki said, as the first Xenomorph leapt from the bushes.


	37. Chapter 37

Disclaimer-Don't own it.

Chapter XXXVII

They only had a moment before the whole campsite was swarming with Xenomorphs. Like a sea of shadows, they sought to engulf the Yautja and humans that were there. Kurai quickly dashed over and got her mask. She had just connected the hoses when a Warrior tried to take a bite out of her head. A screech from behind her made her turn around.

"That's one for me!" Chi called over his shoulder. The dead Xeno lay at the Yautja's feet, speared through the head.

"And another for me, cousin!" Bakuub called, dropping a Drone with a blast from his gun.

"I've got one!" Hami called, as a flash of blue streaked from his gun and into the chest of a Drone.

"That's there-" Kurai began.

"Four!" Ume yelled as he severed a Warrior's neck with a swipe of his smart-disc.

"Four down, we only have seven, then." She said, as the last Warrior took a stab at her with its tail. She deflected this blow, and received a stab to the chest for its trouble. The Warrior screamed and went down.

"Hey, anyone notice that these guys aren't really putting up much of a challenge?" Kurai called.

"Don't complain; it makes our job easier!" Chi growled.

"Augh!"

They turned to see the source of the noise, and Kurai's eyes went wide behind her mask.

"Bakuub!" she cried.

The Unblooded had been speared through the shoulder by the tail of one of the Praetorians. The Xeno held him up in front of its grinning jaws, and Kurai knew what it was about to do. Bakuub couldn't help by whimper with pain as the creature held him like that. Glowing green blood oozed from the Yautja's wound, dripping onto the ground and forming a puddle there.

"Kurai!" Taki called, tossing her a shuriken.

"Right!" the girl yelled back, grabbing the weapon out of midair. Taking careful aim, she threw the shuriken full force at the Praetorian's tail. The creature was opening its mouth and extending its second pair of jaws, about to finish off the Unblooded, when a shriek pierced the hot air.

Bakuub fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder; about a foot of the Xenomorph's tail sticking out from the wound. The Praetorian screamed in pain as acidic blood flowed freely from the wound, melting all it touched. Bakuub managed to crawl away from the deadly creature and its blood, while Kurai went in for the kill. Quickly, she gave it an uppercut slash, slicing it open lengthwise from its gut to its throat. A deluge of acid and organs spilled from the wound, making an even larger crater in the ground. The Praetorian gave one final scream before falling to the ground, dead.

"One down, one to go!" the girl thought to herself.

The Other Praetorian, seeing the brutal death of its fellow, rushed at the girl, mouth open and second jaws extended. Kurai prepared for the fight; raising her one of her fans to deflect the blow. The Xeno, on the other hand, had other ideas. It made to swipe with one hand, and waited until the first fan was up before reaching with its other hand grabbing Kurai's free hand. The creature grinned in triumph, hot drool oozing onto Kurai's neck as it drew its face closer to hers. The girl heard a snapping sound and felt an intense pain in her arm. Risking a glance over, she saw that the Praetorian had snapped her wrist with one hand, while still holding the other.

Kurai screamed as the Xenomorph squeezed her wounded wrist, which only made its grin larger. This creature was obviously taking pleasure in its sick game. The girl noticed that the Praetorian was rather thin, even by Xenomorph standards, and its skin looked a little grey.

The Xenomorph's grin suddenly turned into a grimace of pain. It turned around, and Kurai looked over its shoulder. Bakuub was standing there, holding his wounded shoulder. He had somehow managed to struggle up despite his wounds and use his plasma cannon on the Praetorian. The creature was severely wounded, but not quite dead yet. The Xeno dropped its intended victim to the ground and turned on the one who had preformed this new attack.

Kurai cried out again as she hit the ground, landing on her injured wrist. Bakuub gave another blast, hitting the Xenomorph in the chest. The Praetorian gave a last cry as it hit the ground, dead. Bakuub fell to his knees in pain, then passed out from the loss of blood.

The others, meanwhile, were having more luck. The other Xenomorphs weren't as strong as the Praetorians, and were being killed off more easily than they should have. By now, only one remained, and this one was soon taken down by the combined efforts of Hami and Ume.

The battle was over; the Unblooded had won. All that was left to do now was for more trophies to be collected. The others set to this task, while Kurai did her best to tend to Bakuub's shoulder. They had all been equipped with a medi kit before they had come to this planet, and it was with this that Kurai began to help the young male. The others talked to one another while they claimed their trophies, occasionally laughing at something said by another. After Bakuub was tended to, he lay down on the ground to rest, and Kurai began to look after her own wrist. The bone was indeed broken, but it was a clean break, and would heal correctly if it was set right. Kurai reached into her medi kit and found a wrap she'd put in for just such an occasion. Though the Yautja had many devices for wounds made by blades and bullets, they had nothing for broken bones in their medi kits. Kurai silently congratulated herself on her preparedness as she worked.

When this was done, she went over to claim the skull of the Praetorian she'd killed. She was about to begin cleaning Bakuub's kill when Chi stopped her.

"Don't touch that, Kurai." He said, stopping her hand before she could.

"Why? Bakuub's in no condition to clean his own trophy; I thought I'd do him a favor." She said, a little confused.

"You'd be doing him a great dishonor if you were to clean his trophy for him. You know that there are certain rules for hunting and killing prey, yes?"

"Yeah; Taki and I read up on 'em when we were on the ship." Kurai replied.

"Well, there are also strict rules for the claiming of trophies. For another to claim one's trophy is blasphemy of the highest order. It is said that Cetanu will curse any who dare to take the trophy of another, regardless of the circumstances." The Yautja informed her in a somewhat hushed voice.

"Okay…but who's Cetanu?" Kurai asked.

"Cetanu," Hami said, looking up from his trophy, "is the god of death. He presides over the judgment of those who have died. Those who are judged as honorable will go to the afterlife, but those who are not will have their souls disappear from this world for eternity."

"Whoa; that's harsh. So what's your afterlife supposed to be like, anyway?" Taki asked, carefully removing the head of his Xeno.

"Well, according to the holy ones, it's something like mortal life. When the Black Warrior takes you, your soul will be judged, and if you are found worthy, you'll go to a place where you'll be able to hunt any kind of prey you wish. You can eat the best food you can think of and learn from the fighters of legend. If you exceed in combat, you might actually meet Paya." Ume said wishfully.

"Who's the Black Warrior?" Kurai asked.

"Death." Chi said simply.

"Wow, on Earth, we strive not to die at all. We have this guy called the Grim Reaper who comes to take your soul. There are stories about people who try to cheat the Reaper and get to live a while longer." Taki informed them. The males looked confused and a little offended.

"It's not like we _want_ to die; but if you act with honor in your life, you've got nothing to be afraid of. The Black Warrior isn't evil; he's just doing the task assigned to him, which is to keep the balance between life and death." Hami explained.

"Hey, I can understand that. There are some religions on Earth that have similarities to yours. It's just that I don't know if I believe in the whole afterlife thing." Kurai said as she began to rebuild the fire, which had been destroyed during the battle.

"Then…where do you think you'll go after you die?" Bakuub said, raising his head a little.

"I don't know, but I don't intend to die for quite a while." Kurai said, and they dropped the subject.

After a while, Kurai began to think about the Xenomorphs that had attacked them. Deciding that it was worth a shot, she brought the subject up to the others.

"Hey, guys, did you notice anything strange about these Xenos?"

"Strange? How do you mean?" Chi asked.

"Well, look at them; they're really thin, and they're not the right color." She said, pointing to the Praetorian's headless corpse.

"Now that you mention it, they are rather sickly looking; and they weren't as hard to kill as my elder brother told me they were." Hami said, joining Kurai in looking at the Xeno's body.

"We'll have to speak to the Elder about this; weakened opponents aren't considered good trophies." Said Chi.

"Wait a moment; if this means that we have to do this chiva thing again…" Taki started, but was silenced by Hami raising his hand slightly.

"Well, the rest of us might; but Kurai will surely be allowed to keep her Queen trophy. You should have no problems, either; the one you killed is of a higher rank than the normal ones."

"Now that you mention it, the environment here is a little…unhealthy looking. There are very few creatures in the forest, and there are hardly even any insects around." Bakuub observed.

"We'll just have to talk with the Elder, there's nothing we can do now." Ume said.

The day went on, and the Xenos' bodies were dragged away. The campsite was a mess, so the group decided to clean it up a little. The large holes made by the plasma blasts and acidic blood were filled in, and everyone went down to the river to bathe…again. Kurai expressed her desire for a set of clean clothes, and the Chi suggested that she wash her clothes in the river. When Kurai told him that she had nothing else to wear, the others all began to make suggestive purrs and good-natured little growls. The group all had a good laugh, and talked for a few hours. When it was getting late, they decided it was time to go to bed. Gathering around the fire, they lay down on the ground and went to sleep.

Kurai thought about all that had happened during the past couple of days and sighed.

"What next?" she asked herself, before turning over and falling asleep. Tomorrow the ship would arrive, and she was curious to see what would happen when the others saw her trophies.


	38. Chapter 38

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XXXVIII

"Ah, their coming to get us today!" Taki sang.

It was morning, and everyone was awake already. The Silver Crescent Clan had contacted them via wrist computer, and would be there in a matter of hours.

"Yes; but I'd like to eat before then." Ume said over his shoulder. It was his task to build the fire, and he was having a little trouble.

Eventually, the male got the fire going, and Kurai took a turn to hunt for food. Walking into the jungle, she saw that there really wasn't anything to eat in there. Finally, she saw them; two more of those strange yet tasty birds. They were about the size of geese, with dark brown feathers and dark orange feet. They had longer tail feathers than geese, and their beaks were slightly hooked. She silently flicked out one of her fans and crept up on the pair. She raised the weapon, ready to strike a killing blow to one of them…

"Peep."

Looking in the direction, Kurai saw them; three small, fuzzy chicks. "They must be their babies…" The girl thought, glancing at the other birds.

Kurai's stomach growled, and she considered her options…

"Sorry, I couldn't find anything." The girl said, walking into the clearing. The others groaned in unison. Though she was hungry herself, Kurai just couldn't bring herself to kill either the parents or the babies.

"So…what now?" Ume said. Taki rolled his eyes; both the humans had noticed that this particular Yautja had quite a fondness for food.

"Hey! I saw some fish in the river!" Hami remembered.

"Come to think of it, I think I did too!" Taki said.

"Well then, what're we waiting for?" Kurai asked. Grabbing a long, sturdy stick, the girl began to carve one end into a sharp point. Her grandfather had taught her how to do this long ago, reasoning that she may someday be in need of a fishing stick.

When she was done with one, she laid it aside and began to make another. She did this until she had four sharp sticks. Picking them up, she handed one to Chi, Taki, and Ume, and kept one for herself.

"Okay, boys; we're gonna go fishing." She said, then headed down to the river, motioning over her shoulder for the others to follow. Shrugging in confusion, the Yautja followed, along with Taki, who already knew what to do.

"Now it's simple; stand quietly in the water and when you see a fish…" with this, Kurai thrust her makeshift spear into the water, bringing up a large, wriggling black fish. The thing looked more like an eel, but with small legs and long whisker-like protrusions coming out of its face. Its tail was long, and had a thin paddle –like fin on the end of it. Kurai had to wonder if this was a fish or some kind of salamander or newt. Looking at the pale pink blood dripping from the wound in the creature's belly, Kurai wished she'd thought of just catching one of these by hand and scanning it with the wrist computer to see if it was fit to eat. She hated killing needlessly, and this creature seemed so harmless; making pitiful attempts to bite the stick without any teeth. For some reason, watching this made a lump rise up in the back of the girl's throat.

Holding the computer up to the creature, the girl found that it was indeed edible and finished the job by quickly cutting off the creature's head with a dagger. "Now, you do it." She said simply, laying the creature on a rock on the bank.

One by one, they all did as Kurai had done, and one by one, more fish were piled onto the river's bank. Kurai advised the others to try to catch the creatures alive before killing them, so that they could be scanned with the computer first.

At last, they took their catch and walked back to the campsite, where the others were sitting around the fire, talking about this or that. Within fifteen minutes of their return, the air held the smell of roasting fish was thick in the air, and the males were in good spirits.

_Meanwhile…_

**Ko paced back and forth in the docking bay. The past couple of days had been stressful for him; he'd not been able to get Kurai off his mind. He had not been able to sleep well, and so was a little more irritable than usual. Dreams of Kurai coming back triumphant were quickly shattered by nightmares of her lying in a pool of her own blood, a kiande amedha standing over her corpse and grinning triumphantly.**

**"You'll be with her again in a couple of hours." A voice from behind reassured.**

**Turning, Ko saw Ne'Renh leaning against the door of the docking bay. "Why do you sound so confident? We both know what could easily happen on a chiva." The younger male said.**

**"Because one, she is hardly a weakling, and two, she's using _my_ weapons."**

**"You sound so sure…but how do you know Kurai's not a weakling?"**

**"I know," he said, "because she's using my weapons. No one except one that I deemed worthy would ever be allowed to carry one of my works into battle.**

**"You are renowned for your works…and your arrogance." Ko said, then wished he hadn't. To speak to one such as Ne'Renh in such a manner was unheard of for someone with such a low rank as his.**

**"Perhaps…but I stand by my words." He said, then turned to leave.**

**Ko watched him exit the room and sighed, then turned to leave the room himself.**

**"Ah, Ko; still waiting for your would-be mate?" Kantra said, entering the room.**

**"Mate? Who said anything about-" he began, but was cut off when Kantra raised his hand.**

**"Come now; everyone who knows you knows it. We're just waiting for you to admit it out loud. The big question is; when you do admit it, will you be her mate for life, or just for a season?"**

**"What do you mean?" Ko asked, though he did have an idea of what his superior meant.**

**"You know as well as I do that males and females are usually only together one night during mating season. Humans, on the other hand, are monogamous; they stay together for life…usually. So, what do you intend to do; take her to your bed, or to Paya's temple?"**

**"Kantra; enough!" Elder Yeyinde's voice echoed around the room.**

**"Forgive me, Elder." Kantra said, bowing his head.**

**"Anyway, we'll be landing inside the hour, so get ready." He said. Kantra bowed again and began to leave the room.**

**"And Kantra….bring me a blade." He called over his shoulder.**

**"For what, Elder?" Kantra asked.**

**"Remember what I said I'd do if any of the Unblooded came back empty handed?" Elder Yeyinde asked, and Kantra got the idea.**

**"Elder, you don't intend to go through with your threat?" Ko said, a little nervously.**

**"Of course I do; I will not abide weaklings in this clan." The Elder said sternly.**

**"H-Have you ever had to make good on that threat?" Ko asked.**

**"Come to think of it…no; I don't remember ever having to use this blade for that purpose..I suppose my threat is enough to motivate the Unblooded." The Elder said.**

**"_Oh, please Paya…let Kurai have a trophy…"_ Ko thought.**

**In a few minutes, Kantra had returned with a long dagger, and was standing near the entrance to the docking bay. Soon, the ship could be felt making its decent. Ko's heart beat fast; in a few minutes, they'd see who would become a member of the Silver Crescent Clan…or die.**


	39. Chapter 39

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

**Okay, I know I've been slow to update, but I don't have as much time now as I normally do. Remember; this summer my fan fics will be on hold, as I will be out of school and unable to get to a computer that often.**

Chapter XXXIX

"Hey, do you guys hear something?" Kurai asked, looking up. They had finished eating and were lying around the campfire, talking about what they'd do when they got onto the ship. Three of the males had said that the first thing they'd do was to take a long bath, while the others wanted to show off their trophies to the other males onboard.

"More Xenomorphs?" Taki said quickly, looking up from where he'd been stoking the fire.

"No…I think that it's the ship!" Chi exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

"Thank Paya!" Hami and Ume said together.

Sure enough, in a few moments, a small speck could be seen in the sky. The speck became bigger and bigger, until it took on the familiar ship of the Silver Crescent's clan ship. The ship kept descending until it touched down in the same spot it had previously landed in. The trees around the area, already singed, now blackened and turned to ash in the scorching flames that the ship's engines put off. In a moment, the ship's door opened and three Yautja could be seen exiting.

"Come; it would be very disrespectful to keep the Elder waiting." Chi said, rising and brushing the dust from himself before walking slowly over to the ship. The others followed his example, rising one by one and lining up behind him. They had left their trophies in a small clearing near the campsite for inspection, arranged in the order in which they were now lined up. Kurai's Queen head was a little way away; she was saving it as a surprise.

Soon, they were at the bottom of the ramp, looking on as the Elder approached. He was with Kantra, who looked rather bored at the whole affair, and Ko, who was looking straight at her. Kurai noticed that Elder Yeyinde was carrying a long dagger in one hand, and wondered what it was for, before remembering the Elder's threat to kill any one of them that failed to bring back a Xenomorph trophy.

"I don't see any trophies, do you, Kantra?" the Yautja said, looking hard at the Unblooded.

"No, my Elder." Kantra said.

"And what about you, Ko; do you see any trophies?"

"No, my Elder." Ko replied, giving Kurai a look that was hard to decipher.

"So this means," the Elder said, cocking his head, "that out of the seven of you, not a single one of you have anything to show for your efforts?"

"Oh, we have trophies; we just wanted to present them to the Elder a little way away from the ship, is all." Chi said, bowing.

"Very well; a little unusual, but acceptable. Take me to your trophies." Elder Yeyinde said.

With a bow, Chi turned and began to lead his superior in the direction of the clearing where their trophies were.

In a few moments, they were there, and the Elder began to look over their trophies. One by one, he picked them up and examined them, and every time nodded his head and muttered his approval. Finally, he came to Kurai's trophy. She had laid out her Drone and Praetorian skulls, and was trying not to smile at the thought of the sight of the Elder's face when he saw her other trophy.

"All of you have done very well; I actually expected the majority of you to die. Out of a group like this, usually only about two come back alive; and they only usually have one trophy. For all of you to have lived, and to have at least two trophies each…Paya must have blessed you at birth. I am…proud…to welcome you officially into the Silver Crescent Clan." He said. Taking some acid blood from each Xenomorph trophy, he carefully marked each Unblooded on the forehead with the crescent moon symbol of the clan. When he got to Kurai, hesitated for a moment.

"You know…I didn't expect you to be able to kill even a low-ranking kiande amedha; let alone this one." He gestured to the Praetorian's head.

"Speaking of high-ranking Xenomorphs," Kurai said; now was the time to reveal her trophy. "what would happen if an Unblooded managed to kill a Queen?" The others looked to him to see what he would say, and Kurai noticed Ko's head jerk up at her words.

"A Queen? Ha! Why would you even ask such a question? But since you did… Any Unblooded who manages to kill a Queen will gain enormous honor and respect. I've only heard of a few Unblooded who ever accomplished this feat; and never in the Silver Crescent Clan." He said. He then moved to mark her as well, but she stepped away.

"Elder, before you mark me, there's something you should see." Kurai said, moving over to the bushes and motioning for the Elder to follow her. He looked puzzled for a moment, but followed nonetheless.

Kurai stood in front of the bushes and waited until the Elder was standing in front of her.

"So, what is it that you wanted me to see, Ooman? I swear, if you've brought me over here to see something stu-" his words were cut off when Kurai pulled the bushes aside revealing her last trophy.

"By…by Paya…" Elder Yeyinde whispered, backing up a step. He looked at the girl, then back to the head, then back to the girl again.

"Elder; what is it? What did she want you to see?" Kantra said, walking up behind his superior. His mandibles dropped as he caught sight of the Queen's massive head.

"Ooman…did you do this?" Kantra asked, turning to Kurai. The Elder turned to her as well, and his face was slightly pale.

"Yeah." She answered simply, and the two looked at each other. A loud cry got their attention and they turned to see Ko. He was kneeling on the ground and looking at the severed head of the Queen.

"Anyway," Elder Yeyinde said, turning away from Ko. "Can you prove that you did this?" he asked.

"What do you mean, prove that she did it? What do you think; that one of us killed the Queen and Kurai took the credit or something? Do any of these males seem like the type to do something like that?" Taki demanded angrily.

"Well," the Elder said, turning to the other males, "would you?"

"No." Hami said, shaking his head.

"Absolutely not." Ajino replied, crossing his arms at the thought.

"Not for all the meat on the ship." Ume said.

"Kurai's my friend, but no." Chi said.

"I'd kill her even if she tried to take my low-ranking trophy." Bakuub said, still holding his injured shoulder. The others all gave him accusing looks. "Sorry, but it's the truth." He muttered.

"Nice loyalty, Bakuub." Taki stated flatly.

"Well, what about you, Taki?" Kantra asked, looking at the other human.

"No; first off, I doubt that he'd be so stupid as to give up such a trophy to anyone. Second, he's far too inferior to the female to take down a Queen; I'm surprised that he lived through the trial. As much as it pains me to admit it; this female has surpassed even my accomplishment during my trials. She is truly an amazing creature." With these words, Elder Yeyinde used some of the Queen's blood to burn the crescent moon into Kurai's flesh. For some reason, Elder Yeyinde saw fit to put the mark on Kurai's left shoulder, instead of on her forehead; he'd done this with Taki as well.

"It's only fitting that you be marked with the blood of the Queen you've slain." He said as he worked. Kurai felt the acid sting as it touched her flesh, and she could actually smell her own skin burning, but she didn't flinch; to do so would ruin the moment.

When the Elder was done, there was a three inch crescent moon on her shoulder, but it could barely be seen through the dark red color that her skin had become because of the acid. With a little tending to, it would become a visible mark of the Silver Crescent Clan.

Kurai put her shoulder armor back on, biting her lip when the fresh would rubbed against the metal. She went over and picked up her trophies, but looked back at the Queen's head, wondering how she'd get it into the ship with her wrist broken.

Her question was answered in the form of Elder Yeyinde calling out two hunters to bring the head inside. They gasped when they saw the trophy, but composed themselves soon enough and carried out their task.

As soon as they all got inside, Kurai could feel the ship taking off. The massive engines rumbled a little while, before reverting to their normal quiet tones. The Elder, done with his duties for now, left them to their own devices, with Kantra following. Before the two left the room, Elder Yeyinde turned to speak to the newly Blooded hunters.

"You all will be expected to be in the dining hall tonight. I will be announcing your entrance into the Clan. You have five hours to clean yourselves, your trophies and your armor. I would think that you'd also like to take care of your injuries before tonight's ceremony, so do so." When he was done speaking, he left the room.

The other Blooded took their trophies off to a special room to clean them before doing anything else. Bakuub went straight to the medical bay; his shoulder needed immediate attention, lest an infection set in. Taki took Kurai's Drone and Praetorian skulls before he joined them; he could see the way Ko had been looking at Kurai ever since he'd seen her trophy. The two males had taken her trophy to a cleaning room as well, and it was waiting for her there. She wasn't really looking forward to cleaning the heads, but it had to be done. Sighing deeply, she began to walk in the general direction of the medical bay. Her wrist was throbbing and she wanted to get it treated before it got too bad, plus there were her other cuts and scratches to be mended; and she had hit her head pretty hard in the Xenomorph hive. Sighing again, she brushed the hair from her eyes and continued on; today would be a long day.

"Kurai," Ko's voice made her turn and look at the male. He was standing there, arms at his sides, and staring at her a little oddly. "I'd like to speak to you once you're done getting your injuries tended to. I'll be in my quarters." With this, he left the room.


	40. Chapter 40

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XL

Kurai sighed as she left the medical bay. She had just had her injuries properly tended to and was now heading to talk to Ko.

"_Wonder what he wants…"_ she thought to herself as she neared the Yautja's room.

"Enter." Ko said when Kurai knocked on the door.

Kurai did as she was told and entered the room. She found Ko sitting on the bed, cleaning a piece of his armor. She waited patiently until he was finished and had set the armor aside before speaking.

"Hey; what was it you needed to talk to me about?" she asked.

Ko stood and walked over to her. He stood in front of her for a moment without doing anything, before suddenly grabbing her into a tight embrace.

"Why? Why didn't you listen to me?" he asked, holding her close to him. "I told you not to fight the Queen, Kurai!"

"Ko…It wasn't my intention to fight her…I really didn't have much of a choice in the matter." Kurai answered, returning Ko's embrace. She was a little hesitant to admit it, but she really did like being held by him.

"You could have died…you could have been eaten or infected…I don't…I don't know what I would have done if…Oh, Kurai…" he said, gently nuzzling her neck.

"Ko…come on, you big baby…I'm okay!" she said, laughing slightly. They stood like that for awhile, before Ko finally let her go and composed himself. Taking a step back, he cleared his throat and spoke.

"So…what are you going to do now?" he asked.

"Well, first I'm gonna clean my trophies; not looking forward to that, then I'm gonna take a bath and wait for this ceremony thingy. What is it that Elder Yeyinde wants to do, anyway?" she asked.

"It is tradition to have a formal ceremony announcing new members to a hunting clan. You'll just be announced as Blooded, then you'll present your trophies to the other hunters, then we'll all eat." He explained.

"Huh…okay then…I'll go clean my trophies now, and I'll see you at the thing?" she said, turning to leave.

"All right; I'll be looking forward to it. Remember to shine your armor like I taught you; you want to look your best." He said. Kurai smiled and nodded before leaving the room.

***

**As he watched Kurai leave, Ko couldn't help but feel a little jealous of her. She had done what even Elder Yeyinde hadn't done. She had surpassed everyone's expectations and brought enormous honor to the Silver Crescent Clan, while he was just another face in the crowd.**

"_**Don't think like that; you should be down on your knees thanking the gods that she's alive!"**_** he told himself, and felt ashamed of his envious thoughts. **

**He shook his head and picked up the piece of armor he'd been polishing and got back to the task. Everyone would be wearing their armor tonight, and he needed to get his ready. **

**The male began to think about all that had happened since he'd met Kurai and Taki. Never had he even entertained the notion that he'd actually speak with kiande amedha, or help them; he'd never thought he'd see an Ooman who could kill a Queen, or be a willing host for one. The girl had lost the ability to have children, but had gained a thousand years of life. Kurai had become a member of the clan, and a Matriarch of another-though it was brief-and killed a Bad Blood. All these things she had done; a lifetime's worth of accomplishments in a matter of months. If she'd done all this in this brief time, what would she do with the rest of her life? The Ooman was truly an amazing creature. She'd die for her friends, and hunt down her enemies to the ends of eternity; a truly honorable person.**

"_**And I will make her mine one day."**_** Ko thought with a smile. He would ask her to be his mate for life, but only after he'd gained more honor; it would be an insult to her to ask her now.**

"_**Then again, she's not a Yautja female; she doesn't go by the same rules…No, I'll wait; it's not the right time yet."**_** He thought. Sighing, he shook his head and got back to work.**

_Later…_

"Damn; that was naaaaasty!" Taki said, wiping his brow. It had taken nearly three hours since they had gotten home and the newly Blooded hunters were done with their trophies and were getting ready to go and bathe. The room was a large one, with several large tables for trophy preparation. Several hoses and vacuums were attached to the tables, and a few rags and other items for cleaning were to be seen here and there

. Kurai was just finishing up her Drone skull and was more than ready for a hot shower. She had just vacuumed out about fifteen pounds of goo from the braincase of the Queen, and had been stretching, peeling, and removing skin from the heads. The final result was three gleaming white skulls lying on the floor, ready to be hung on the wall. The Queen's skull was decidedly lighter without its added weight of skin, brain and tissue, and would look quite good, if not a little morbid, on her wall. The other two were not a big problem, but whether or not they'd fit on her wall remained to be seen.

"All done in here?" Kantra asked, poking his head into the room. He waited a moment and wrinkled his mandibles in distaste, and a good sniff told Kurai why. The place smelled a little like rotten meat, due to the Xenomorph heads being out in the sun and elements for two days.

"Yeah; we're done. Why?" Bakuub asked, looking up over his Praetorian skull. His shoulder had been dressed with clean bandages and he was already able to use his arm. Kurai had noticed that the Yautja had quite an ability to heal; they could take a stab to the shoulder and be up and around soon after. She had had a little trouble at first with her wrist, but she had worked through it and now had the three cleaned skulls to show for it.

"The ceremony's going to be in two hours; so get your armor cleaned and polished and go bathe. I should think that you wouldn't wish to appear in front of the entire clan smelling like…this. If you're done now, your trophies will be taken to put on display for the rest of the clan and you may go and prepare for the ceremony." He said, then left.

They all groaned and rose from their chairs. Kurai began to mull over whether to take a bath or clean her armor first, finally deciding on the armor. Moaning in frustration, she brushed her hair from her eyes, winced at the pain from the new mark on her shoulder, and began to trudge back to her room.

Before going to the medical bay, she had quickly gone back to her room and removed her armor. Now she opened her door, sat on her bed, and began to clean each piece. The suit was covered in dirt, resin, ashes from the fire, dried blood and Xeno drool, and some slime from the fish they'd caught. Grimacing in disgust, she reached for a rag and some cleaning solution and began to clean the armor. The loincloth would need to be washed, but she could do that when she was finished; the Yautja had a kind of washing machine that got your clothes washed and dried in less than ten minutes.

After an hour, the armor was shining beautifully and Kurai was exhausted. She sighed again as she walked into the bathroom and turned the water and stripped off her remaining clothes. The hot water felt good on her skin, and she took a few minutes to enjoy the feeling before washing her hair and body. When she was done, she stepped out and put on a plain pair of black pants and a black tank top. Stepping into a pair of black flip flops, she took her dirty clothes and headed to the Yautja laundry room to wash them. A few minutes later, she took her clothes and walked back to her room to put on her armor on. She had the suit on in about ten minutes and headed out the door to find Taki.

He was in the kehrite talking to Chi, who was looking quite handsome in his armor. The two of them waved a greeting as she walked over to them. They were soon joined by Bakuub, Ume, Hami and Ajino, who all looked nervous yet optimistic.

"It's almost time; I'm a little anxious." Taki said.

"Don't be; no one here has any reason whatsoever to be nervous, right, Kurai?" Chi reassured him.

"I guess, but I don't like large crowds." Kurai responded. It was hot in her armor, so she took out a plain paper fan to cool herself off with while they waited.

"You don't like people in general, Kurai." Taki joked.

"Anyway; I wish this thing would start so we could get it over with. I'm in a big hurry to go to bed." Kurai said. The five Yautja gasped quietly.

"Kurai…don't say such things! You above all of us will be honored tonight! Even we may have to bow to you after this ceremony!" Ume scolded.

"Ahem."

They all turned to see Kantra standing in the doorway. He was dressed in his own armor, a shining silver suit with darker silver around the edges and a long bluish loincloth. His hair was tied up neatly with what looked like a new piece of fabric, and he looked strange; as though he were…sober.

"Hey, Kantra; what's up with you? You don't look like you just climbed out of a bottle of C'ntlip!" Taki called. The others gasped in shock, but Kantra just laughed.

"Indeed; this night is special. Not only is your ceremony tonight, but this is the first in a five day religious festival on our homeworld. During this time, followers of the gods aren't allowed to drink alcohol or engage in sexual activity." He said simply.

"So it's a kind of purification thing?" Kurai asked.

"Yes, basically." Kantra replied, nodding.

"It's a bit ironic; seeing as how your name means "prayer". Bakuub observed.

"My mother named me Kantra because she prayed a lot when I was a child. I was rather weak as a pup, and my future was uncertain for a long time. My mother would spend hours praying to the gods to help me, and became a priestess when I finally got better at the age of fifteen to thank them."

"Wow…that's deep." Kurai said.

"Anyway; Elder Yeyinde wishes you to come to the dining hall now." The older male told them.

He turned, and the others all followed him. Kurai and Taki fell in beside each other and walked down the hall. At last they reached the door to the dining hall. The sound of Yautja talking could be heard even out in the hall, making them all realize just how many people were in the Silver Crescent Clan. Kantra took a moment to check that his armor was on straight before opening the door.

The two humans were the last in line, and they hesitated for a moment.

"Are you ready?" Kurai asked her friend.

"As I'll ever be." He replied. Taking a deep breath, the two gave each other a nod and followed the others into the dining hall.


	41. Chapter 41

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

**Sorry it took so long; I just finished watching Inuyasha, and I'm a little depressed because I know that they're not making any more episodes…**

Chapter XLI

Kurai gasped as she looked around; over a hundred Yautja were positioned around the dining hall, whispering as the Blooded entered the room. The other hunters had cleared a path up to a platform that had been set up for the occasion, and the group proceeded up to this and stood. The platform was something like one of those small stages that were set up for concerts at summer fairs; but without the sound system and lights. There was only a stage and a large curtain, presumably to hide the group's trophies from general view.

The girl somehow doubted that too many of the Yautja there knew about her little secret; for they talked and joked with one another. If they had known, odds are they would have hushed and whispered as she walked past.

The group stood on the stage and, with a little instruction from Kantra, lined up in a certain way. Hami was first, followed by Ume and Ajino, then Chi, Bakuub and Taki, followed by Kurai. The girl guessed that the Elder wanted to save the best for last, so to speak, and end the presentation with a bang. The sight of her Queen trophy was sure to cause at least some commotion, and truth be told, Kurai was indeed keen on it.

In a few minutes, Kantra came up to the stage and stood in front of the newly Blooded. When he raised his hands for attention, the entire room became quiet; any hunters who had been talking hushed immediately and all eyes turned toward the direction of the stage and its occupants.

In a moment, Kantra walked off the stage, and Elder Yeyinde took his place. Raising a hand to quell the few whispers that had began, he cleared his throat and addressed his clan.

"Hunters of the Silver Crescent Clan; we all know why we are here! This day welcomes seven new hunters into our ranks, and gives us great honor indeed; for one of these seven here has done what even I would have deemed impossible; but I will get to that momentarily. Rare is the occasion when all of a group of Unblooded survive a chiva; but on this day, that rarity has come to pass. Through the graces of the gods, all seven of these managed to survive, and bring back at least two trophies each."

At this, the crowd roared with pride. Elder Yeyinde waited a few moments before raising his arms again.

"Not only did they accomplish this great feat; but one of them did our clan a great honor by slaying a Queen!" There were no cheers this time; instead the whole room erupted into whispers and quiet conversations about who could possibly have done such a deed. Elder Yeyinde again waited, then called for attention.

"I can guess by your reactions that you're curious to know exactly which one of the seven brought back the trophy… I am not one to keep such things a secret for petty enjoyment… Step aside, Young Bloods; and let the others see the results of your work! draw the curtain, Kantra; let the noble hunters of the Silver Crescent Clan inspect the first trophies of the newest among their ranks!"

With this, the group moved over to one side of the stage, allowing the curtain to be drawn. Behind the curtain were the new trophies; hung on a makeshift trophy wall made for the occasion. They were presented in the same order in which the seven Blooded stood; Hami's trophies came first, then Ume's, and Ajino's. After this came Chi's, Bakuub's, Taki's and Kurai's. The curtain was pulled slowly out of the way, revealing each person's trophies, giving the other hunters time to comment on the skulls. Nods of approval could be seen, and everywhere praises and evaluations could be heard. When the curtain was fully drawn, Kurai's trophies came into view. For a second, the murmuring was the same as the others, then erupted into gasps of surprise when they saw that it was indeed Kurai who had the Queen's head.

Gasps and growls were accompanied by whispers of "By Paya," and "There's no way…" Kurai couldn't help but smile as heads turned from her to her trophy, and then back again. Some little part of her liked being the center of attention again, and another, much larger part told her that it was wrong to want such things.

Finally, Elder Yeyinde took center stage again, calling for the room to become quiet. The multitude of hunters took longer to quiet down than before, but finally there was relative silence in the room.

"Yes; I did not believe it at first myself, but the one who brought such great honor and prestige to this clan is none other than an Ooman…a female Ooman. Her name is Kurai Blackwood, and you will all treat her as an honored huntress now." With this, he turned to Kurai.

"Step forward." He said.

Kurai obeyed, with a questioning look on her face. The Elder grabbed her shoulder gently and pushed her up to the front so that everyone could see her better.

"Hey…" she muttered, raising a hand in greeting. One of the hunters stood up; a brownish one with plain brown spots. He walked up to the front of the crowd and began to speak.

"Esteemed Elder; while I know it _certainly_ isn't my place to dispute your vast wisdom, I feel I must contest this. This Ooman, this…_Kurai Blackwood_…is a member of a species that our most noble race uses as prey. To think that she, a mere _female_ of the species, which we don't usually even see fit to hunt, could kill a kiande amedha Queen, which _you_, noble Elder, haven't yet done…not that I would _ever_ presume that you couldn't.

This Ooman…has obviously somehow managed to either trick or possibly seduce one of the others out of their trophy…I would accept her getting a Drone skull without question; that _is_ possible, I suppose, but to think that she got such a trophy is utterly unbelievable. If I may suggest something, Elder Yeyinde? Think about this thing you do; giving this Kurai such high honor. Look at the fact that she is Ooman; such an inferior race, and try to ascertain exactly _how_ she got her hands on this, admittedly magnificent, trophy." With this, he bowed and sat down.

"Suck up!" Kurai said, but disguised it as a harsh cough. Elder Yeyinde couldn't help but laugh slightly. He composed himself and turned to Kurai.

"Kurai; Though this young hothead," he said, glaring at the male who had spoken. "has shamed himself by speaking in such a manner, he does bring up a point. I'm sure that I, along with everyone else here, would like to hear the tale about how you slew this creature." He gestured to the Queen's head.

Kurai sighed. "Fine; I'll tell the story; but pay attention! I really don't like repeating myself; here goes." With this, Kurai recounted her going into the hive to rescue Taki, and how she, Taki, Chi and Bakuub had gotten separated, how the Praetorians had herded them to the Queen's chamber, how she and Taki had fought their way out and ho w Kurai had eventually killed the Queen. The whole room listened with rapt attention as they heard the story, and a few actually cheered for her when she finally finished.

"So; you actually managed to kill a Queen in this way?" the young male who had spoken before sneered.

"Were you off somewhere else while I was talking just now?" Kurai answered.

"Enough; What is your name?" Elder Yeyinde asked the male.

"It's Aru, my Elder; I am a Blooded hunter of six seasons." He said, bowing.

"Well, Aru; may I offer you some advice?" the Elder asked.

"It's a fine world that we live in that lets us have and express opinions, but sometimes it's good to simply keep our opinions to ourselves. It would be quite a noisy world if we went around just saying everything we thought, now wouldn't it?"

"Yes, my Elder." Aru said, sitting down.

"Now, in the presence of the hunters of the Silver Crescent Clan; I hereby decree that these seven to be fully Blooded hunters!" with this the crowd roared.

Turning to Kurai, Elder Yeyinde drew closer to her.

"Come to my quarters later; there are some things that we must discuss." He said, before turning and leaving.

"Now that all the boring business is taken care of; let's EAT!" Kantra said. The crowd roared again, and large platters of food were brought out and set on the tables.

Kurai sighed; out of the frying pan and into the fire.


	42. Chapter 42

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

Chapter XLII

Though the inevitable sojourn to Elder Yeyinde's room weighed heavily on Kurai's mind, she would have to admit that she did have fun that night. The food was delicious, though it did consist mostly of meat, and though there was no alcohol of any kind, many of the Yautja felt that they could let loose, though it was only for a couple of hours. The hall was full of rancorous laughter and bellowed oaths from the hunters. Even Ko, who was normally so calm and reserved, laughed quietly as Kantra told him a joke about the difference between females and kiande amedha. Jokes and humorous stories about hunts, females and the adventures of the gods and legendary hunters could be heard from every corner of the room, while the occasional belch or bout of flatulence gave the room a very…interesting smell.

All through the ceremony, Ko stayed beside Kurai, probably to keep too many people from crowding her all at once. The lingering smell of Yautja musk hung thin in the air above all their heads; a reminder that the Yautja mating season was almost at an end, and Kurai could have sworn that she felt a couple of rather large hands on her rear from time to time throughout the night.

Over and over, hunters young and old came to her and asked questions about her experiences. Though she hated repeating herself, she must have retold the story of her chiva at least fifteen more times that night. She was continually in the middle of a large group, while the other Blooded were left to speak with those who had either already spoken to Kurai or who haven't yet. They stood in the corner, talking amongst themselves, while she was once again the center of attention. Kurai hated this kind of thing; she was always being praised back on Earth, no matter what she did. Though in school, Taki admittedly got higher grades, Kurai was always shown as an example of how things should be done. It was like their trials; Taki, along with the others, had gotten very good trophies, yet she was the one who got all the notoriety.

When the feast was finally over, Kurai said goodnight to Taki, then to Ko, but with a private kiss, and started the trek to Elder Yeyinde's room. As she walked, Kurai thought that this would be a perfect time to bring up the strange appearance and behavior of the Xenomorphs she'd encountered. Something was wrong with them, and as she remembered, there had been few, if any, animal calls around the hive. Perhaps the Elder could give her some insight into this whole situation. She also began to think about exactly what it was the Elder wished to speak with her about.

Soon she arrived at the Elder's door, and reached out and knocked. The Elder didn't tell her to enter, but opened the door himself, nodding his head to invite her inside.

"So," she said, looking at the Elder, who sat down at his desk. "what exactly is it that you were so keen on talking to me about?"

"I think you know, Ooman?" he said.

"No…I don't" Kurai said, raising one eyebrow at the Elder.

"If you remember, you and I were having a conversation a while back involving you talking about kiande amedha. I wanted some information, and you refused to provide it. Now, I'm sure you, like all females, have your cute little secrets, but right now, I want to know exactly what you were speaking to your Ooman friend about, Kurai."

"Why, Elder; I'm sure I don't know what it is you're speaking of." Kurai said innocently. The Elder responded by pounding his large fist on his desk, making her jump slightly at the action. He waited a moment before taking a deep breath and calming himself.

"Ooman, I distinctly remember hearing you and your friend talking about kiande amedha. You even told him that you served as a host for one. If I remember correctly."

"Hmmm… You know; I can't quite recall." Kurai said.

"OOMAN! Why is it that you insist on keeping this particular bit of information from me? I already know that it is quite likely that you could have served as a host for a kiande amedha." The Elder said.

"Oh? And how would you know that information, Elder?" Kurai asked. The girl had to admit, this last statement had her a little nervous.

"Well, when I was speaking to one of the healers, he happened to mention a long scar on your chest. This was a couple of days before our little conversation, you understand; so it didn't mean anything to me at the time, but after we had words I began to piece it together. For some reason, you served as the willing host for a kiande amedha. Now, I don't know why you did this, and quite frankly, it doesn't concern me; but your secrecy about this matter has peaked my curiosity greatly."

"Has it now?" the girl asked.

"Yes; it has. Now, are you going to tell me about why you served as a host or not?"

"Ye…nope." She said, smiling.

"You know, it's not like I could _do_ anything with the information you'd be giving me; I'm just curious, that's all." The Elder said

Kurai mulled this over, and decided that it really wouldn't hurt to tell him just a little. She certainly wouldn't tell the Elder about where Makoto and Shisome were, but she might as well give him just enough information to make him get off her back. But first…

"First of all; if I tell you, will you drop this whole thing once and for all?" she asked.

"Fine." He said, albeit reluctantly.

"All right then; yes; I did serve as a host for a Xenomorph, a Queen, if you must know." She admitted. The Elder's eyes went wide, and his mandibles opened in surprised.

"Why? Why would you do such a thing? How were you saved from death?" he asked. He seemed like a child; eager to know why everything was the way it was.

"My reasons are my own. As for how I survived… Let's just say I had some really good medical care." She said, then, on an afterthought, spoke again.

"Elder; I noticed something strange about the Xenomorphs we fought."

"And what was that?" he asked.

"They were…sick; they had grayish skin and they were really skinny. They were way to easy to beat. I was in a room full of their eggs, and not a one of them hatched. Also, there were very few, if any, animals around the hive." She said, thinking back.

"You say they were sickly?" Elder Yeyinde asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, it does make sense; that planet was used by many clans in the past for their chivas; including some Bad Bloods."

"What do you mean?" Kurai asked, interested.

"As you should already know, Yautja do not have a true central government; we rely on individuals known as Arbitrators to track down the disgraceful criminals known as Bad Bloods. We have many chiva planets; each clan may use a planet or two for a chiva, but generally we don't really fight over who uses whose planet. That planet you were on; Ka'Mih, has been used by our clan, along with many others, for a very long time. There are kiande amedha hives spread all across the planet, as we tend to do on worlds specifically for chivas. Using this method, many clans may hunt on one world at once without even knowing that the others are there. We do, however, ask permission of the clan who first seeded the planet with the eggs; mainly so as to avoid a confrontation."

Kurai listened to all this and thought for a moment. Her eyebrows suddenly went up; she thought she had it.

"So, maybe the cause of the Xenomorphs' sickness was overhunting?" she asked.

"It is possible; but I've heard that that particular hive had a very good population; many clans had used it and said that the numbers were into the hundreds, albeit those were just educated guesses."

"So it was overpopulation that made all the wildlife disappear, then overhunting. When the animals were gone, the Xenos began to starve. This, coupled with the constant chivas, made the Xenos sick. You said something about Bad Bloods? Why would they want to take a chiva?" the girl asked at length.

"Boredom? I'm not sure why they do what they do; I just kill them whenever I come across them." The Elder said offhandedly.

"So then, it's not impossible that the Bad Bloods have been hunting there between honorable chivas?"

"Far from impossible, actually… You've brought something very important to my attention, Kurai. Now…let's think of a plan to catch these bastards when they try for another hunt…we could wipe out as much as a whole clan of Bad Bloods! You'll be commended for this, Ooman… Now, to get some Arbitrators…" he began to mutter to himself, and Kurai was about to leave, when a sudden idea struck her. Why hadn't she ever thought of it before? Turning back to the Elder, she walked back and put both hands on his desk, making him look her in the face. For some reason, she had a goofy smile on her face, which made the old male look a bit uncomfortable.

"Y-yes? What is it, Ooman? Why do you stare at me so?" he asked, looking everywhere else but at her.

"Elder; you said that I gained a great deal of honor when I killed the Queen, right?" she said. The Elder raised an eye ridge and nodded.

"Well, would there be any…privileges…that go with said honor?" she asked.

"Well, yes; there are actually a number of things that you've earned for the slaying of a Queen. For one, you'll be moved into somewhat better quarters. The others will get their own rooms too, but yours will be on the upper decks. You'll get better food, and-" he was cut off by Kurai.

"What about a ship?" she asked, her heart pounding.

"What?" the Elder asked.

"Do I have enough prestige to have a ship of my own?" she asked again.

"Why would you want one? What are you wanting to go do?" the male asked.

"I'm sorry, but that's my business. All I want to know is if I can have a ship yet. If I have to go on a few more hunts, fine; tell me how many and I'll be off tomorrow!" she said.

"To have a ship… Hmmm… Ah… Normally, you'd have to be at least Kantra's rank; not even Ko can get a ship just yet, though he hasn't far to go."

"So, I'd have to hunt some more?" the girl asked, leaning forward.

"Like I said; normally you would. However; I'll make you a deal, Kurai." He said, standing up. Kurai backed up as the Elder walked around his desk to stand in front of her.

"What's the deal?" she asked.

"Meet me in the kehrite tomorrow morning. If you can best me in a fight, I'll send orders to the homeworld for a ship to be sent for you; to be your very own. If you lose, however, you will tell me absolutely everything about the kiande amedha. I know that you're keeping some very big secrets from me; and I wish to know them, all of them." With this, he gently gripped the back of Kurai's neck and led her to the door. Opening said door, he pushed the human out into the hallway.

"Go; make whatever preparations you need to before tomorrow." He said, before closing the door, leaving the girl out in the misty hallway.

"_Tomorrow; I'll fight the Elder tomorrow…"_ she thought, as she walked down the halls toward her room.


	43. Chapter 43

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

**It's been awhile; but I'm back! Sorry it took so long; I had a lot to do recently, but anyway, here's the newest installment of The Insanity Continues!**

Chapter XLIII

"YOU AGREED TO WHAT?" the group cried, looking around the table at her. It was the next morning, and they were sharing a meal together in the dining hall. Guan and Dto were there, as well as Kantra, Chi, and Bakuub. Taki and Ko were the ones who looked the most surprised.

The Elder had sent a message via Kantra that the fight was postponed until that afternoon due to a kind of diplomatic discussion with another hunting clan over territory. They would meet in the kehrite at about 1:00 that afternoon.

"It's very simple; I'm going to fight Elder Yeyinde today; if I win, he'll give me my own ship, if I lose…I tell him some information he wants to know…about a couple of friends of mine." She said this last part while looking at Taki and Ko, who looked back at her with open mouths.

"You're not seriously going to tell him about-" he looked at the other three Yautja and chose his next words very carefully. "about our friends, are you? Those guys just got a fresh start, and you've put 'em in the lion's den! This is some _major_ uncoolness on your part, Kurai!"he hissed furiously.

"I agree; but what was I supposed to do? I need some personal transport ASAP; what the Hell was I supposed to do?" Kurai asked.

"Hunt until you earned yourself a ship, like the rest of us! You have a damn good head start already!" Ko said, speaking for the first time.

"Elder Yeyinde isn't like the other Yautja you've fought; he's an Elder! Don't you understand what that means, Ooman?" Bakuub said, his eyes a little wide and his voice a mixture of awe and slight fear.

"He's…old?" Kurai said, taking a drink of water, but almost choked when Chi slammed his hand down on the table abruptly, making a couple of the others jump and others in the room turn to look at them briefly before going back to their own food and conversations.

"Damn it, Kurai; this is serious! An Elder has survived at least a thousand hunts; he's not going to be an easy opponent by any means!" he said.

"Exactly right; and believe me, when you two fight, he's going to get the information he wants; I suggest that you use your data pads to call your friends and tell them about this whole affair." Kantra said, taking a drink of water. The holy week was almost up, and the Yautja seemed to be looking forward to drinking something other than water.

"What do you mean, call our friends?" Taki asked, pulling out his data pad and looking at it.

"Those data pads are connected to the…what do you call it? Spider web…inter web…something with Net?" Kantra said.

"Wait, these things are able to connect with computers on Earth? Even this far away?" Kurai asked, briefly changing the subject. She pulled her own data pad from her pocket.

"Yes; I told you that when you were first given them! That's the problem with pups today; they don't listen to a damn thing that you tell them…" he then began to mumble quietly about the total lack of respect the younger generation was getting as of late. Kurai ignored him and took a closer look at her data pad; and her eyes went wide.

She hadn't seen it because she wasn't looking for it, but there it was; an icon with the word "Internet" below it. Touching the icon on the screen, she was transported to one of Earth's popular search engines; one that Kurai actually favored.

Looking up briefly, Kurai saw that Taki was giving her a "my god, we're dumbasses" look, and she went back to what she was doing. Though the data pad was in Yautja, it was relatively simple to switch it over to English, and she was soon on her way to checking her e-mail. She gasped when she saw that she had over 50 new messages, and wondered who the hell was trying to contact her so much; the only ones who really kept in touch with her were her grandparents, occasionally her tessen master, and the occasional Shadow. Looking in her inbox, she saw that the majority of the messages were from banks asking her to use their services, companies asking her to invest, a couple of male enhancement ads (she scoffed and thought that sending this crap over the Net should be made illegal), someone trying to get her to buy a private jet, several charitable organizations asking for donations (she put these into a special folder for her to review and research later) a couple of "what's up?'s" from some acquaintances, but it was the last one on the list that got her attention.

"Taki; come look at this!" she said, stepping away from the table. Though she was sure that the Yautja couldn't read English, she didn't want to take her chances; not with this.

"What's up? I was just engaging in a…stimulating…conversation with a fabulous new friend from Tokyo." He pouted, but came over anyway. His eyes went wide when he saw the message.

"I KNOW ABOUT THE XENOMORPHS"

They looked at each other, then back at the message.

"No fucking way…" Taki whispered.

Attached was a vid file. Kurai opened it, and learned exactly how this person knew about Makoto and Shisome. There, in full color and sound, was footage that looked like it was taken from a security camera. It showed Kurai leading Makoto through the museum's main entrance; the then-facehugger Shisome wrapped around her upper arm. Kurai didn't actually know it at the time, but she had looked directly at the camera's lens several times. Her face showed up clear as day on the vid. The footage even showed, in all its gory detail, Makoto taking his bloody revenge on Stone, and the two heading out into the night.

"Ko…KO!" Kurai cried, and the male jumped up so quickly that he almost knocked Chi from his seat. The Young Blood growled and went back to his food.

"What is it; why are you yelling like that?" he asked. Kurai showed him the message and the vid.

"By Paya… what are you going to do?" he asked in a whisper.

"I…I don't know…but I do know that I really do need a ship now." She replied.

"How did they even get that footage? I would have thought that Hoshi would have…" Taki began.

"That was my thought, too…" Kurai said quietly.

"Whoa, this is some heavy shit… We've gotta get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. Did the sender leave any e-mail address?" Taki asked.

"No; the box is blank…" Kurai said.

"I've changed my mind, Kurai; you have to win against the Elder today." Ko said.

"Yeah; not only will Makoto and Shisome be in some shit, but so will you and I for knowing about them, most likely, and I doubt that the Elder will overlook Ko knowing about all of this and not telling him." Taki said.

"You're right." Kurai said.

A beeping sound turned their attention to the table, where Kantra was answering a message on his data pad. The Yautja stood and walked over to them.

"Elder Yeyinde got done with his diplomacy earlier than expected…Kurai, it's time." He said.


	44. Chapter 44

**Disclaimer-Don't own it. **

**Heys! I know it's been awhile, but I've been really busy with school; I have this one teacher who gives SO MUCH homework it's unreal! Here's the fight I promised everyone!**

Chapter XLIV

"So, I assume that we're both clear on the terms of our little wager?" Elder Yeyinde asked. Kurai and her little group had walked to the training room and were now getting ready for the fight ahead. Ko and Taki were especially anxious, and the others weren't doing much better. Kurai couldn't help but start to regret her side of the deal.

"_If I lose, Makoto and Shisome are done for…"_ she thought. Even if she won, she'd always live with the guilt of putting her friends' lives in such danger. What if she lost? What would Elder Yeyinde do? It was a certainty that he'd head for Pluvia, and the chances were slim that he'd spare Shisome's hive, but what would he do to Taki, Ko and her? She felt a little queasy, and really wished she'd kept her mouth shut for once.

"Yeah…I get the idea." Kurai said. The match would be pretty straightforward; no weapons, no killing. The first one to lose consciousness was the loser. Unlike with her previous matches with Yautja, Kurai was sure that the Elder would not cheat and pull out a weapon at the last moment; she was at least glad of that. The two were not prompted to remove their weapons; seeing as how they were both considered honorable and trustworthy enough not to unsheathe them. Before the fight had started, they had to swear an oath that they wouldn't raise their arms against each other; on the threat of exile for the one who dared to break the promise.

"Then let's get this over, shall we?" Kantra said, walking to the middle of the room. The male had been chosen as a kind of referee for the match, but didn't seem too happy about it. Kurai began to walk to the center of the room.

"Kurai, wait!" Ko said, hurrying over to her.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Your hair; tie your hair back…it's a distraction you don't need." Ko advised.

"Ko; it'll be fine, don't worry…" she said.

"Are we going to do this or not; I've better things to do today!" Kantra prodded. Ko shook his head and walked back to the benches to sit with Taki.

"What crawled up your butt?" Kurai asked.

"I'm sorry; but I think that this whole thing is so damn stupid!" he said.

"Yeah…I get where you're coming from." Kurai agreed under her breath.

"Well, that's too damn bad; you're the one who agreed to this deal, and you are going to follow through with it." Elder Yeyinde said sternly, removing his cape and handing it to a random hunter to hang on the wall.

"Yeah, yeah… Keep your dreads on…" Kurai mumbled.

"Now, now; no need to be rude…" the Elder said.

"Let's just get this over with so I can get out of here…" Kurai said.

"Yes, and so I can learn all about…what you told me earlier…" Elder Yeyinde said, looking at Kantra.

"Then will the two of you please stop with the banter and get to the fight already? I mean pauk!" Kantra yelled.

"…Yeah…okay…" Kurai said.

"Someone's touchy today…" the Elder mumbled.

"Seriously!" Kurai agreed, rolling her eyes. Kantra gave them both a look, and they were quiet.

The male walked back to sit on the benches with the others, and Kurai and Elder Yeyinde took their places.

Her heart was pounding as Kurai faced her opponent. If this deal were for anything else, this wouldn't have been such a big thing, but now…

"_This all depends on me…anything that happens to them because of this is my fault…If I lose, they'll all die."_ She thought.

"Ready?" Kantra called; the two of them nodded.

"FIGHT!"

It began in a second; Elder Yeyinde had jumped back and the two began to circle one another. Though the male was much larger than Kurai, and he was likely far stronger, he was also slower. She, on the other hand, made up for her lack of brute strength with speed and accuracy. With any luck, she'd be able to render the Elder unconscious before she herself took too much damage…

The Elder went first, aiming a good kick at Kurai's head. The girl managed to catch the hunter's leg and used an old move she'd learned to flip him over and get him onto his back.

"_Maybe if I'm lucky I can end this quickly!"_ Kurai thought, dashing over to the Elder's side.

Luck, however, was not on Kurai's side. The Elder was faster than she'd expected, and was up off the ground and taking an offensive stance before she'd cleared half the distance between them.

"Did you really think that I'd go down that easily?" he asked, cocking his head slightly.

"Not really; but hey, I can hope, right?" the girl retorted.

"If you must." Elder Yeyinde said, and threw a quick punch at Kurai's midsection. She dodged, but was taken by surprise as her opponent was able to grab her by the neck while she was distracted.

"Now I'll end this whole silly affair…" he muttered, and raised his fist.

"Not likely!" Kurai choked. Bringing one leg back as far as she could, she gave the Elder a solid kick under the jaw. His head snapped back, and he let go of the human, allowing her to drop to the floor, landing in a crouch.

The Yautja, meanwhile, was catching his breath; she'd done some damage with that kick, and he looked a little surprised.

"Whoever taught you was certainly adept, I'll admit…" he mumbled, clutching his neck.

"Same to you." Kurai admitted.

After a brief recovery, Kurai and Elder Yeyinde were back at it. The girl was able to land a good kick on her opponent's belly, and he was able to give her a punch to the shoulder that left her with her eyes watering.

Five minutes of this turned into fifteen, and the two of them were clearly physically exhausted. Kurai was aching from the many blows she'd received, and Elder Yeyinde wasn't faring much better.

"Ready to give up, child?" he called from across the room; he was on one knee, supporting himself with his hand.

"Me? What about you; you're having as much trouble standing as I am!" Kurai called. She was in a kind of kneeling position, trying to calm her mind the way she'd been taught long ago.

"Then let's finish this quickly; I know for a fact that we both need to get to the medical bay!" he said, standing, albeit a little shakily.

"Right…" Kurai said, rising to her own feet.

They ran at each other, neither one willing to lose this fight. Kurai was about to deliver a blow to Elder Yeyinde's head, when he suddenly dodged, resulting in Kurai almost running completely past him…almost. The Yautja reached out quickly and grabbed Kurai's long hair, stopping her painfully.

"You know; you really should have listened to Ko's advice about your hair, Ooman." he said, wrapping the long locks twice around his wrist, causing Kurai's eyes to water madly.

He kept pulling at her hair, drawing her into what she knew would be her defeat. There was nothing she could do now except silently beg the forgiveness of her Xenomorph friends…

"No!" she screamed, reaching down to her belt and grabbing the small dagger there.

"You'd go that far to protect your secret? You'd give up everything you've gained since you've been here?" Elder Yeyinde hissed.

"The only thing I'm giving up," Kurai said, raising the dagger, "is this!" With one movement, she brought the dagger down.

The long, silky hair fell limply into the Elder's hand. Kurai tossed the dagger away and turned to face her opponent once more. A crowd had gathered during their fight, and they cheered when Kurai tossed away the knife. Elder Yeyinde was momentarily distracted by the noise, allowing Kurai a chance to finally end the fight.

Running at the Elder, Kurai drew her fist back. Knowing well that she was at the last of her strength, she closed her eyes and waited for what promised to be a painful experience.

The punch sent the Elder, who was still holding Kurai's severed hair, to fly back about eight feet; right into the kehrite's wall. He made an "oof!" noise when he made contact, and several practice weapons fell from their places to land with clatters to the floor. Kurai could already feel her hand beginning to swell, and fell to her knees from the mixture of the pain in her hand, her throbbing head, and the various other wounds she'd sustained from this fight.

She was going to pass out; she just knew it. Looking at the Elder, she saw, too her absolute horror and amazement, that he was getting up, still clutching her hair.

"_What does it take to knock this guy out?"_ she thought to herself, as her vision began to get blurry.

Suddenly, she heard a noise that made her snap momentarily back to reality. The Elder had fallen to his knees, and was looking woozy. He took one last look around, let out a very small growl, and fell face-forward onto the floor. Footsteps could be heard, and Kantra came into Kurai's field of vision. He knelt by the Elder and gave a quick examination. He said something, and the crowd could be heard, though whether they were cheering or booing was beyond the girl at the moment. Letting out a loud moan of pain, Kurai rolled over onto her back and stared up at the high ceiling. In a moment, several faces appeared in her blurry sight. Somehow, she recognized Ko. He seemed to be saying something, but darkness closed in around her before she could make it out…


	45. Chapter 45

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

**Okay, so…does anyone know what was up with the server earlier? It said that no connection could be made or something. Did anyone else get this message? It was only out for a couple of hours, but it was still annoying.**

Chapter XLV

"_When will she wake up?"_

"_I don't know…but be quiet; she needs her rest."_

The first thing Kurai noticed when consciousness began returning to her was excruciating pain in her head. The second was the voices of her friends. At first, she couldn't tell who was speaking, but as the haze cleared, she finally recognized the voices.

Opening her eyes, Kurai winced; the bright lights of the medical bay assaulted her vision mercilessly. Looking around, she saw Taki leaning over her worriedly, along with Ko, who's mandibles were twitching nervously. Kantra was also there, looking over something on his data pad. Guan and Dto stood against the far wall, playing some sort of rock-paper-scissors game, whilst Chi and Bakuub argued quietly but passionately about the best way to remove the skull from a Xenomorph.

"She's awake!" Taki said excitedly. Everyone came over to the human's bed to get in on the conversation.

"By Paya; that was the most…interesting…match I've ever seen!" Kantra said, putting his data pad away. He came over to Kurai's bed and cocked his head at her, giving her the Yautja version of a smile.

"Yes; when you pulled that knife I was thinking "she must have lost her mind!" but when you cut your hair, my faith in you was renewed. I can't believe you won!" Chi said enthusiastically.

"Wait…I…I won?" Kurai asked, trying to sit up in bed. Ko quickly but gently helped her, getting meaningful glances from the others in the room.

"Yes; the Elder passed out exactly ten seconds before you did. As per the terms of the deal, you officially won the match." Kantra informed her proudly.

"I must admit; I lost quite a bit of money betting against you, Ooman." Bakuub said.

"How much did you lose?" Chi asked, turning to his cousin.

"You bet against Kurai?" several Yautja and Taki asked, shocked.

"Well, if it were you, whom would you pick; the Elder or the Ooman?" Bakuub defended.

"Fair point." Chi said, and there were quiet mutters of agreement.

"Yeah…I am still in the room…and it's not like this is awkward or anything, but…" Kurai said.

The others turned their attention back to the human in the bed. "Sorry…" they said.

"Anyway…how long have I been out?' Kurai asked.

"About an hour." Taki said, wiping his friend's head with a wet cloth.

"So, what's been going on since then?" she asked, reaching up to touch her throbbing head, then felt the absence of her hair, which made her eyes grow wide.

"Shit; I thought that part was a bad dream…" she said. Though she was and had always been a tomboy, she did like having long hair.

"No; and it's a crying shame, too. It would have brought you great honor to have your hair braided." Kantra said, shaking his head.

"Anyway, Kurai…you…I can't believe it…you won." Taki said, looking at his friend.

"Heh?" Kurai said, still feeling her hair, which was now almost as short as Taki's. It had taken her years to get it as long as it had been before she'd received the blood transfusion, and she had been pretty happy to see how long it had gotten after that. To tell the truth, though, it might be a good idea to keep it short; Ko had been right about her hair getting in the way, and it did get awfully hot in the summer…

"He said you won; you beat me." A voice interrupted.

Looking in the direction of the sound, the group saw the Elder standing in the doorway. He was wearing a simple loincloth and had neglected to put on his cape. He had a small bandage on the left side of his head, and more than a few bruises here and there. In his hand, he carried something that looked like a piece of black rope…

"Wait a minute…is that my…?" Kurai said, changing the subject. The Elder looked down at what he was holding.

"Quite observant of you, Kurai." He said, using her name for the first time.

"You fought so well; I decided that I'd keep a…memento…of the experience. After all, it's the least you could do, since you got a ship from me. I actually would find it quite flattering if someone did the same for me." He said, looking at his prize.

"Oh, I am flattered…a little creeped out, but flattered. What did you say about a ship?" the girl asked.

"Ah…I ordered you a ship from the homeworld. It's a good model; not incredibly large, but you can take a few friends in it if need be. It's got a good defense system, as well as some fine weapons. I had a technical advisor fly it here, incase you wanted to make any…modifications…to it." Elder Yeyinde said.

"Modifications? What kind of modifications are we talking about here?" Kurai asked.

"Oh, things like paint color…window tinting, you know; visual things like that. Just do me a favor; don't paint it bright green or yellow."

"Can do." Kurai promised. She already had the colors in mind.

"So, when's this bad boy supposed to be here, anyways?" Taki asked, taking a drink from a glass of water on the table by Kurai's bed.

"Two days, if all goes well. Why; are you planning on leaving us so soon?" Elder Yeyinde asked, fixing her with a gaze of either curiosity or suspicion, Kurai couldn't decide which.

"Yeah; I have to, Taki too, and maybe Ko." The human confirmed.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with what you're keeping secret from me, would it?" the Elder asked, coming closer.

"It might, why; are you going to have me followed?" Kurai asked.

"I swore that if I lost I'd keep out of your business concerning this matter, and I will keep my word. I won't follow you, Kurai; nor will I have anyone do if for me. You may go wherever and do whatever you wish; so long as it brings no dishonor to our clan."

"You got a deal; whatever I do, I'll be sure to keep the Silver Crescent clan out of it, as long as you do the same for me." Kurai promised.

"Very well." The Elder agreed.

The Elder turned and left, leaving Kurai and her friends to talk amongst themselves.


	46. Chapter 46

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

**Apparently some people think that this story is over; but as the title says, The Insanity Continues! I was hoping to hold this off until Starting Over was caught up, but I don't want it said that this story is over before its time.**

Chapter 46

The next two days went by quickly. Kurai was somewhat glad to be rid of her long hair; at least she wouldn't trip over it or spend half an hour washing it.

Elder Yeyinde didn't seem to hold a grudge against her for beating him; in fact, he seemed to almost respect her for it. Whenever she walked down the corridors, she got congratulatory roars and growls from the hunters, and even the occasional gentle shake of the shoulder.

Taki was reaping the benefits of Kurai's newfound fame too. The shuriken-wielder was constantly surrounded by males who were asking him all sorts of questions about Kurai. Though they weren't interested in Taki for the same reasons he was interested in them, the young man still basked in the newfound attention. Kurai knew that her friend didn't usually get too much attention; especially when she around, and she knew that he wouldn't tell the other hunters anything embarrassing about her, so she just shrugged it off.

Ko, on the other hand, did not like the fact that his potential mate was constantly surrounded by other males. By the end of the first day after Kurai got out of the hospital, he was hoarse from growling quietly at any male who got a little too close to her.

Kurai was told by Kantra to take it easy until her ship arrived; and she was really enjoying it. Taki and Ko took the opportunity to take a sort of mini vacation as well. Kantra didn't seem to mind the break either, and he was rumored to have taken his own little break, and was said to be in his room sleeping…a lot.

"It's his second favorite pastime." one hunter had remarked.

It was the second day, and Kurai's ship was going to be delivered soon. She was rather looking forward to seeing Makoto and Shisome again, and to getting to the bottom of the odd e-mail messages.

"So," Taki said, as they were walking down the corridor toward the dining hall, "have you decided what color you want to paint your ship; as if I don't already know."

"Well, you're right; but I was thinking of maybe putting the old family crest on the ship. I want to show honor and respect to my family name, you know?" the girl said.

"I guess; but I have a question." he said.

"What's that?"

"Why do you guys in the Yamamoto family always put your crest on everything? I swear; I've seen that crest on so much stuff, especially when I went to your grandpa's house that one week that one summer, remember?"

"You know; I realized that too. I guess it might be kind of like a dog marking its turf."

"I'm just glad you guys don't piss on stuff."

"Who says we don't?" Kurai said, and the two laughed.

"Ah, Kurai; good news!" Ko said, running toward them. The male had an excited look on his face.

"What's up?" Kurai asked, coming to a stop in front of the hunter, who had to put on the brakes to avoid slamming into her.

"Well, the mechanics who are flying your ship here were ahead of schedule on the homeworld, so they were able to set out earlier than expected! Your ship is going to be here in about thirty minutes!" he sounded excited.

"Fuck yeah!" Taki said, punching the air.

"Here here!" Kurai agreed.

"Come; let's go to the docking bay and wait for your ship." Ko suggested.

"Sure; I've got nothing else goin' on today." Kurai said, shrugging.

"Yeah, me neither; let's go." Taki said.

Kurai's stomach was growling, but she shrugged it off and changed her direction from that of the dining hall.

"You said about thirty minutes, yeah?" Taki asked, looking up at Ko.

"The real question is; how do you know all this about the ship anyway?" Kurai asked.

"Elder Yeyinde called me into his quarters to tell me. He said that the only reason that he called me is because he couldn't find you." he said, looking at Kurai, who sat down on the floor.

"Wow; not one to spare the feelings of others, is Elder Yeyinde?" Taki commented.

"He can't afford to spare feelings, Taki; he's too busy." Ko stated.

"Busy doing what, exactly? I don't think that I've ever actually seen him _do_ anything." Kurai mumbled.

"He _does_ give a lot of orders, you know."Taki pointed out.

"He is a great hunter! He did allow you to challenge him for your ship, Kurai, as well as allowing you to join this clan, and to let Taki come along with you. You should be grateful, Kurai." another voice interrupted, making them all turned.

Ne'Renh and Kantra stood in the docking bay's doorway; the weapons maker had his arms crossed and was glaring at the human girl.

"I know, I know; it's just that…what makes him a great hunter? I've lived on this ship for almost three months now, and I have to say that he doesn't look any more impressive than any of the other Yautja here." Kurai said, looking at the two males.

"He's hunted and fought more than any other hunter on this ship." Kantra said.

"So he's a little more experienced; so what?"Taki asked.

"He's learned fighting techniques beyond anything you'd be able to comprehend, Ooman." Ne'Renh said.

"Yeah, and Kurai's learned fighting techniques that _you_ can't comprehend, Yautja."Taki snorted.

"I'll…I'll give you that." Kantra mumbled.

"And I'll give you that I really should be more grateful to Elder Yeyinde; he's pretty cool, actually." Kurai admitted. Now that the matter was settled, the five of them stood or sat quietly for a few more minutes.

"Bored…bored…bored…bored…bored…bored…bored…bored…" Taki repeated. Kurai couldn't help but laughing at the looks that the Yautja gave him.

"Is he quite all right?" Ne'Renh asked, looking concerned. Taki took his cue.

"NO!" he cried.

"No, I'm not all right! I haven't been all right since…the accident…" Kurai tried desperately not to laugh. This was a little thing that Taki liked to do from time to time.

"What…accident?" Kantra asked. The trap had been set, and the Yautja had taken the bait.

"It was…about eight years ago…I…I was just a little child…I was just a little boy! Why? Why did it happen? All I wanted…was a bunneh…whah? Where's mah bunneh? Bunneh! Can you hear meh? Oh, god...I can still hear the sounds…the screaming…all those poor people…all that death and fear…" he said, sliding down the wall and holding his head in his hands. If someone didn't know Taki, they'd swear that he was really having some sort of traumatic flashback.

The Yautja, who were likely rather unfamiliar with the concepts of overacting and being overly sarcastic, looked horrified.

"By the gods…what's wrong with you?" Kantra asked. Ko, who was a little more familiar with the humans' antics, rolled his amber eyes and sat down to watch the carnage.

"Nothing's wrong with me; I'm just fucking bored." Taki said, sitting against the wall again.

"You won't have to be bored for long." Ko said, looking at something on his data pad. It surprised Kurai; she didn't know that Ko even had a data pad.

"Why's that?" Taki asked.

"Because the ship's coming in now, and we'd better get back, unless we want to end up cooked." the Yautja said, standing up and beginning to walk toward the far wall, away from the searing flames that would come from the ship's engines. Ne'Renh and Kantra had already departed the docking bay, and Kurai and Taki soon followed. In a moment, the doors began to open, and Kurai got the first glimpse of the ship—her ship.


	47. Chapter 47

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

**HEY YOU GUYS! I'm back online with some new ideas for new chapters! Sorry I've been away so long; it's a long story, believe me! I don't know what else to say, except another sorry and on with the story!**

Chapter XVII

"Daaamn!" Taki said, seeing the ship.

The first ship was about twice the size of Kurai's house; far larger than she'd thought it would be. The craft was sleek, looking almost like some sort of flying creature. The windows were tinted black, and there was no visible door. The second one was a basic travel ship; dark silver and rather boxy; room enough for about three people. Kurai had been told that the mechanics would be leading it by remote control so that they would have a ride home.

**A/N: I'm sorry, everyone, but I can't really picture a Yautja ship very well. Just think of an SR-71 Blackbird, only**** HUGE ****and more Yautja technology-ish. Once again, sorry.**

"Yeah, I'll say; this baby will look so sweet once we're done with it." Kurai agreed.

"You're not going to put tacky Ooman furniture inside it or anything, are you?" Ko asked.

"Yes, that would dishonor the ship." Ne'Renh joked.

"Yeah, and I'm sure that you would have some fabulous decorating tips for me, Ne'Renh, but—" Kurai began, but was stopped by a sound from the ship.

All heads turned to see that there was in fact a large door on the side of the first ship.

In a few seconds, three Yautja appeared from inside of the ship. They talked to each other for a moment, clearly unaware of the others in the room. Kurai was about to call out to them, but one of the mechanics apparently saw them and walked over to them, with the other two following.

"So, which one of these is Kurai Blackwood?" one of the mechanics, a deep green male with black spots and long dreads asked.

"With such an odd name, it has to be one of these Oomans." another male, this one light brown with no markings and shoulder-length dreads sneered. Kurai's eyes narrowed.

"But which Ooman? Look; there's two of them here." the green male said.

"Enough, the both of you! Go check the ship's systems for anomalies or something. I'll talk to the Oomans." the lead male, a tall grey one with brown spots snapped.

The other two walked off, grumbling to each other, as the lead Yautja stepped forward to two humans and one Yautja.

"I apologize for those two; they're young and rude. I am called Maru, and I am the lead mechanic. This ship was ordered by Elder Yeyinde of the Silver Crescent Clan for a Kurai Blackwood; is this person among you?" he asked, eying the three of them.

"I'm Kurai." the girl said, stepping forward.

"Ah, very good. I assume that you realize that this ship is somewhat different from the ships that Oomans use. I would have liked some time to teach you about how to fly this ship and use its computers and instruments properly, but I have an entire fleet to build back home. The most advice I can truly give you is to find someone onboard this ship who can teach you to fly yours. I'll leave you with this information—"

He handed her a small disc, about the size of a quarter.

"—that will help you learn about the basics of your ship. This remote–" he said, handing her a small black metal device with a few buttons on it– "opens the ship's door from the outside, along with some other functions, which are explained on that disc.

With this, he gave her a little nod and turned and walked away, yelling at the other two about something or other. Kurai wondered how she was going to learn how to pilot the ship; she really didn't know too many people, let alone one who had their own ship. The three looked on as the mechanics' own ship lifted off into the air and took off through the airlock, disappearing into space in under ten seconds.

"Hey, Ko; I have a question." Taki said.

"Yes?"

"How does the air stay in here? I mean, that door's open, isn't it?" he asked. Kurai had been wondering the exact same thing.

"The air is held inside the ship by what you Oomans would call a "forcefield"; it keeps the air inside the ship when the door is open, and also keeps the airlessness of space from sucking out everything in this room. It's quite advanced technology; even I don't understand it too well." Ne'Renh admitted.

"So you mean that on the other side of that forcefield is…" Kurai began.

"Space, yes. I suggest that you don't go poking your head through it to see if I'm telling the truth. I heard that a Young Blood tried that once, and …well, it wasn't a pleasant sight, if rumors are to be believed."

"I'll…I'll take your word for it." Kurai said, grimacing.

"Good idea." the older male said.

"Let's go inspect your ship, Kurai; I wonder if it's got a kitchen…" Taki said, beginning to walk over to the craft. There was a muttering of agreement from the others, and they began to follow the human.

"Looks like a pretty sweet ride…" Kurai commented.

"I should hope so; it's the top of the line."

They all turned to see Elder Yeyinde leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed.

"No less than what your used to back home, eh, Kurai?" Taki joked, nudging his friend with an elbow.

"Thank you, Elder, really." Kurai said, bowing.

"I always keep my word; it's a point of honor for me." The Elder said, nodding.

"Anyway, let's go see the inside of the ship before the damn thing decays from age!" Ne'Renh said, rolling his eyes. Kurai grinned to herself. The group began to move again, and Kurai gently took Ko's arm and began to gently pull him with her to fall in behind the others.

"Hey, can Ne'Renh really talk to the Elder like that?" she asked.

"Those two are actually friends, if you can believe it. Besides, Ne'Renh's skills are far too valuable for the Elder to be fighting with him." Ko informed her.

They all came to a stop in front of the ship, and seemed to be looking around as if waiting for something.

"What's the holdup?"Kurai asked, moving to the front of the group.

"You've got the remote." Ko reminded her gently.

"Oh, yeah…" Kurai said, a little embarrassed.

"Okays…let's see how do we do this… Uhm, Ko; could you help me with this?"

Ko came over and looked at the remote and began to explain the buttons to her. In a moment, Kurai had the basic layout down and pressed the button that Ko told her should open the ship's door. For a moment, Kurai wondered where the door actually was; the metal was absolutely seamless, but then a small crack appeared in the side and the door lowered itself and became a ramp.

"All right; let's go on in." the human said, a little nervously.

The group muttered amongst themselves, then proceeded up the ramp and into the new ship.

Across the room, another Yautja watched the group ascend the ramp. He growled deep in his throat at the sight of the Oomans talking and laughing with the high-ranking members of the clan.

"Damn Oomans…. You'll wish you'd never even heard the Yautja when I'm done with you…" the hunter named Aru hissed to himself.


	48. Chapter 48

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

**Sorry for the long delay; my computer had a virus, then I was working on getting more Starting Over up and out there. Here's more of The Insanity Continues!**

**Chapter XVIII**

"Whoa; this place is incredible!" Taki whispered, as they entered the ship.

"Indeed; even I didn't expect this ship to be so…amazing! I may have to order one of these for myself…" Elder Yeyinde agreed, looking around.

The inside of the ship was a dark silvery color, spotless with its novelty. There were four seats near the front of the craft, presumably one for the pilot, and three passengers. The control panel was huge; reminding Kurai of one of those big supercomputers that she'd seen in a museum once. Kurai discovered that the front of the craft, which had originally looked as though it had a windshield, was instead covered by some sort of forcefield, which the Elder said was a stronger version of the one that kept the air inside the ships. From inside, the forcefield, the view was completely in color; as opposed to the tinted color of the field. There was what looked like a solid wall about ten feet behind the chairs, but upon closer inspection revealed itself to be a contraption similar to the outside door; with a small panel to open an almost invisible door.

Touching the panel, the door seemed to melt away, revealing the rest of the ship's interior. The rest of it was the same clean, pewter color, without the layer of mist on the floor. There were a few windows, again made of the same forcefield as the "windshield", which would likely provide a spectacular view of space. Walking around, they discovered a small, yet well-equipped kitchen unit, three bedrooms; each with large, comfortable-looking bunk beads, except for one, which was obviously the master bedroom. Across the small hall from the bedrooms was a good-sized bathroom, complete with sink and shower, and also another small bathroom in the master bedroom.

Walking down the hall, Taki discovered another panel on the wall. Pressing it, they were surprised to see a sort of trapdoor slide open, revealing another level of the ship.

"Hm; look at that!" Ne'Renh muttered, looking around.

Below deck was a large space, with several hooks on the walls on either side of the room, and a few small benches on one end.

"Well, look at that; you've got your own kehrite!" Elder Yeyinde said, walking to the middle of the room.

"Kurai; if you want to trade, I have a ship that's dependable, reliable–" Elder Yeyinde began, turning to the human.

"A piece of crap, you mean?" Kurai said, smiling and crossing her arms.

"Well…basically." he admitted, rubbing his head, slightly embarrassed.

"No go, Elder; this baby's mine and I intend to hold on to it. You could bum rides off me, though."

"No thank you; I'll stick to my…piece of crap, if you don't mind."

"I don't." Kurai retorted.

They continued on, discovering that there was yet another bedroom, and next to it, a room that, when Kurai attempted to push the panel on the wall, asked for a password.

"I wonder what this is." Kurai said, looking over the almost-invisible wall.

"The armory, most like." Ne'Renh said, examining the panel.

"Armory? I've got an armory?" Kurai asked in disbelief.

"Top of the line, remember?" Elder Yeyinde said.

"Man, Elder; you really go all out! I might have to fight you just to get one of these for myself!" Taki said.

Kantra, who had been very quiet up to this point, spoke up.

"So, Kurai; do you have any sort of teacher to instruct you on how to fly this ship?" he asked.

"No; but I was thinking of Ko." the human admitted, looking at the Yautja.

"I'd love to, but I don't have any idea as to how to fly a ship. I'm still working on getting a ship of my won." Ko admitted.

"What about you, Ne'Renh?" Kurai asked.

"Sorry; but I'm going to be busy very soon. There's a massive request for weapons that came in from the homeworld. It seems that a new clan has been formed there; one of my brothers finally did something worthwhile with his life, and I'm going to equip the armory." the weapons maker said.

"I'll do it; I've got nothing else to do." Kantra said.

"Are you sure? Can you stay…focused, patient…" Kurai said, unsure.

"Sober is the word you're looking for." Taki said.

"We'll see, won't we?" Kantra said.

"Help me!" Kurai squeaked to Ko.

"Don't worry; it'll be fine. Kantra may be a bit…well, you know…but he's very dependable where it counts. You can trust him with this." Elder Yeyinde said.

"Okay; when do we start?"

"Tomorrow; I was planning to do some sort of safety inspection or something, but forget it, this sounds more fun." Kantra replied.

"I hope you're joking about that." Elder Yeyinde said, looking at the other male.

"Of course, Elder…I haven't preformed a safety inspection in months!"

They all laughed, and together began to walk out of the ship.

"You are…just joking about the safety inspections, right?" Elder Yeyinde said, as the rest of them walked out of the ship and into the hanger, leaving him standing there alone.


	49. Chapter 49

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

**Sorry for the delay; I've been out of action because of a NASTY virus on my computer. It's FINALLY gone now, so I should be back updating regularly…or at least as much as I can.**

Chapter XLIX

"All right; here's how it's going to be; I'm going to do my best to teach you two how to fly that ship, and you two are going to do your very best not to die and embarrass me, got it?"

It was later that day, and Kantra had led Kurai and Taki into one of the lounges on the upper decks to talk with them. The cryptic message on her data pad was weighing heavily on Kurai's mind, and she was having a hard time concentrating.

"OOMAN!" Kantra barked, and Kurai's head jerked up to look at the older male.

"Huh?"

"Do you understand me?"

"Oh, yeah, sure…" she agreed.

Kantra looked at her intensely for a moment, and then went back to what he was talking about earlier.

"Now, I plan to begin teaching you as soon as possible, of course; but my other duties are pressing me at the moment. You'll have to wait until I get some free time; until then, I don't suggest that you try to pilot the craft yourself. Is that acceptable?"

"Sounds good to me; Kurai?" Taki said, looking at his friend.

"I'm fine with it; but I would really like to learn to fly the ship as soon as you can manage it. I have some…matters to attend to." Kurai said.

"Well, I don't know what you have to do; but you'll have to wait until I have some time. I'm sorry; I know that it's a very nice craft, and you want to fly it as soon as you can, but that's the way it has to be." Kantra concluded, rising from the table.

"Kurai, we have to do something quick!" Taki whispered, as soon as Kantra was out of sight. Whoever had sent the message was likely not taking the time to screw around. The more time that passed, the worse this situation was probably getting. For all they knew, the person or people responsible had found out more about the Xenos and were already on their way to Pluvia with an army's worth of weapons.

"I know, Taki, but we've got no choice; we have to learn how to pilot that ship or we won't even get to start figuring this out… Crap! I thought that, just for a while, we could get a little break, you know? Just a few days when something weird isn't going on around here or someone doesn't want to kill us! It just figures; it's always freakin' something!" Kurai fumed.

"Of course it is; we're involved! Let's face it; our lives are always messed up and always have been! Weird crap happens to us… Well, to you, but I'm always around you so it happens to me by association…" Taki mused, playing with one of his shurikens.

"Yeah, well…sorry about that…"

"It's cool; life's never boring when I'm around you." Taki complimented.

"Aw, thanks! Now, let's try to figure this message thing out. There's no point even saying that we need my grandpa's help here."

"Yeah, I know you hate to rely on others, but your grandpa's got resources that we just don't have. If anyone can track down the sender, he can." Taki said.

"I know, but the thing I wonder about is; how did someone get that footage from the museum? I remember Grandpa telling me that he had a Midnight following me; and they are very thorough. There's no way one of them would forget something as obvious as the security footage."

"Maybe, and just go with me on this, maybe it was an inside job. Maybe someone took the security disc when it was already in Hoshi's possession?" Taki suggested.

"I hate to admit it; but it's not impossible. A lot of things were going on at that time, and a disc is easily to take and replace. Plus, you know as well as I do that Grandpa's not a young man anymore; some things may start slipping his mind." Kurai sighed.

"I don't know; Hoshi's never been the kind of man to just slip into old age, Kurai. If I know that old fart, he's gonna fight until the bitter end. He's not going out in some nursing home; he's gonna go out in a blaze of glory! The great ones always do, you know."

"Ugh, enough! I don't want to even think about my grandpa going out; be it in a nursing home or a blaze of glory, okay? It gives me the creeps…"

"Okay; enough death talk. Now, let's try to, once again, get to the bottom of this. If it was an inside job, then that means that there was someone inside the Shadows that had access to the footage." Taki said.

"Someone inside the Shadows? That's creepy. As long as I can remember, the Shadows have been around every time my grandparents or other members of my family visited, or when we visited them. They've been serving our family forever. To think that one of them has gone bad is…well, I just can't imagine it, really!"

"Seriously! I always thought those guys were brainwashed or trained from birth or born in pods or something. It's like your family has their own personal army." Taki stated.

"They're not brainwashed; they're just really loyal and paid really well."

"Well, it that's the case, maybe someone paid one of them more. You can buy a lot of things with money; including loyalty. The problem is figuring out which one of them took the disc. First thing's first; we need to get in touch with your grandpa and tell him what we've found out so far."

"Right." Kurai said, bringing out her data pad.

Her heart was pounding as she began to find her grandfather's name in her online address book. Finally she arrived at "Jiji", took a deep breath, and pushed the "Create Message" button. She then began to tell her grandfather the basic details of what had happened since the last time she'd seen him. Finally, she arrived at the present, and pressed "Send". Sinking back into the chair, she hoped that he got the message soon.


	50. Chapter 50

**Disclaimer-Don't own it.**

**Well, I figured I'd use my free time to write another chapter of TIC. Enjoy; if anyone still remembers this fic. Oh, and please keep in mind that this is corresponding with Starting Over; all of the events taking place in The Insanity are going on at the same time as the ones in Starting Over…more or less, because it's been so long and I'm just rediscovering my story, so to speak.**

Chapter L

It had been a week since Kurai had sent the message, and as of yet there was no reply. Kantra had found time to begin training the two humans in the fine art of spacecraft piloting, and it at least took away some of the anxiety of the wait.

Kurai had learned the basic layout of the controls, and had been out on some flights. She excelled at piloting, naturally, and Kantra was quite pleased; the human's success made him look very good to the higher-ups. She had to keep up this training, as well as her other martial arts with Kantra, so it was only natural that Kurai was a little tired. There were a few finer points, though; and it was these that Kurai and her teacher were going over at the moment. The Yautja who had brought the ship had given her a disc that gave all the basics of the ship, and she studied with it whenever she had free time. The more she learned, the faster she could go out to investigate the mysterious message.

Taki had come, too; but Ko had decided to stay and train in the kehrite.

"So I just push this button?" Kurai was asking.

"And it fires your weapons, yes." Kantra replied.

"Ooh, weapons… What've I got here? Missiles or something?"

"Plasma cannons; they'll take out most small craft…and pretty any size Ooman ship you can think of. Likely you'll never have to use your weapons, though." The older male concluded.

"Would there ever _be_ a situation where we'd have to us them?" Taki asked.

"The only thing I could ever think of was if there was a war…that, or if you were attacked by Bad Bloods. The Bad Blood scenario is far more likely, as we Yautja don't usually make war on each other."

"Well, I guess that's good to know." Kurai said.

"So, I think you have the basics down, yes? You've proven to be a very quick learner, Kurai. I'm quite pleased with your progress. The only thing to do now is to give your ship a name. Make sure that you give it an honorable one; not something random or stupid. The name you give your ship reflects you; give it a name that has meaning....something…deep." Kantra said.

Kurai thought about it; what name was deep and meaningful to her?

"Something deep…" she thought for a few minutes, but was shaken out of it by a sound from her pocket. Reaching down, she took out her data pad and looked at it, then showed it to Taki, whose eyes went wide.

"Video Message from: Jiji."

"_I can't open this here; who knows what Grandpa will say…"_ she thought, and it seemed as though Taki was having the same thoughts.

"What is it?" Kantra asked, trying to look over Kurai's shoulder.

"Oh…just a joke from an online friend…" Kurai said. She hated to lie to Kantra after all he'd done for her, but there was no choice.

"Well then; please tell your friend to kindly wait to send you things like that at a more proper time. Now, do you think that you want to name your ship?" Kantra asked at length.

"N-no; I'll wait 'til later…'til I've had some time to think about it." Kurai replied, somewhat distracted by the thought of the message.

"Very well. Well; I have no more to teach you. If you feel you're ready, you are now free to use your ship to come and go as you wish. Only know this; no matter where you go, or what you do, you are marked with the symbol of the Silver Crescent Clan. All that you do reflects on this clan; and we will hunt down anyone who dishonors this clan…including you. That having been said, you are welcome to return to us whenever you please; hopefully with some good trophies for us to display here." With this, Kantra rose gave a little bow, and left the ship.

When their teacher was safely out of range, Kurai turned to Taki. Kurai pushed the "Open" button on the data pad, and the message began playing. Hoshi's face came onto the screen, and the old man began to speak.

"Kurai," he said, "I have received your message regarding the Xenomorphs. I want you to know that know for a fact there was indeed a traitor amongst the Shadows. That traitor's name is Meisai, and she is working with a woman named Irene Stone…who is the sister of the Ivan Stone that kept Makoto and Shisome in cages when you rescued them from the museum. She's apparently seeking revenge for her brother's death. She's already attacked Shisome's hive on Pluvia. By all accounts, it appears as though she thinks that you are on Earth. Kurai, I suggest that we all meet on Pluvia to discuss this as soon as possible. If you can, get a ship, or get someone you trust to fly you. I don't suggest telling anyone you don't know very well about this situation; for the hive's sake. Come quickly; there is much that has happened on Pluvia that you must be informed of." With this, the message ended.

"Well?" Kurai said, turning to her friend.

"We're going to Pluvia, aren't we?"Taki said, matter-of-factly.

"Hells yes! Nobody and I do mean _nobody_ hurts my friends! This Irene Stone is going to regret the day she ever set foot on Pluvia…or heard my name." Kurai's voice was dark, making Taki shiver; he knew what she was like when she was truly angry.

"Right then; I'll go get Ko." Taki said.

"We should take a couple of hours to go pack what we'll need for this trip. If we leave too soon, it might look suspicious…and we don't want to be followed."

"I thought that Elder Yeyinde said that we wouldn't be followed." Taki said.

"He said that he wouldn't send anyone after us; he said nothing about what people would do on their own. The last thing we need is for the hive to become the Silver Crescent's own personal hunting ground."

"Good plan…" Taki said, then the two of them got up and left the ship, with Kurai making sure to lock it.

"Okay, so you go get Ko and tell him we'll be leaving as soon as we're packed. I'll go get my stuff and inform the Elder that we're going off on a hunt; it probably won't be too hard convincing him. We'll hightail it for Pluvia as soon as possible." Kurai said, as the two hurried down the hall. Kurai was so consumed with her thoughts that she bumped hard into a passing Yautja.

"Oh, sorry…" she muttered, as she moved around the hunter.

"Damn right you are, Ooman filth…" the hunter muttered.

Kurai turned to see that it was the young hunter named Aru, who had insulted her when she'd brought the Queen trophy to the ship.

"Look, I'll kick your ass later; I have more important things to worry about than dealing with you. Now, get out of our way." With this, Kurai pushed past Aru.

"Come on, Kurai; we've got to get packed and go!" Taki said, pulling on Kurai's arm.

"Where are you going, Ooman?" Aru sneered.

"None of your damn business!" Taki said, and the two hurried off.

"_Oh, it is my business….now." Aru growled to himself, then stalked off…there were preparations to be made. The Ooman was up to something; and he would find out what…_

"Christ; what was that guy's problem, anyway?" Kurai muttered, as they hurried down the hall.

"Crap if I know; let's just hurry!" Taki said, and the two quickened their pace.

At an intersection, the two split up to do their respective jobs.

Kurai made her way to Elder Yeyinde's chamber, where she found him poring over a data pad.

"Um, Elder; I've just finished my ship training and I…want to go on a hunt." she said, and then waited.

"Ah, good! I expected as much. I'm pleased that you're anxious to bring honor to yourself and to this clan, but are you sure you're ready?" he asked.

"I'm fairly sure… Yes…I'm very sure… I need to…track something down…" she said.

"Very well; you have my permission. Go; bring honor to yourself…and to us."

"One more thing; I want to bring Ko along." Kurai said. This could be the only kink in her plan. If Elder Yeyinde denied her this, she would either have to go without him or make him come along anyway.

"Ko? Why?"

"I think he could benefit from the experience…" Kurai said, and then realized that it made it sound as if she were the more experienced hunter.

"Very well; I agree with you. Take Ko along with you; the experience will do him good. He's far too uptight." This being said, Kurai was dismissed.

Meanwhile, Taki was hurrying down to the kehrite to find Ko.

The Yautja was in the middle of the room, practicing with his combi-stick. There were several others in the room as well, which would make talking here very risky.

"Ko! Taki said, hurrying over to the hunter.

"Taki? What are you doing here? I thought that you were being trained by Kantra to use your ship."

"Look, there's not a lot of time to explain things, but you have to go to your room and pack your shit. We've got to get to Pluvia, ASAP!" he said all of this in a whisper.

"Pluvia? Why?"

"I can't say a lot here, but it's about that message that Kurai got awhile back."

That was all Ko needed. Folding his combi-stick, he quickly followed Taki out of the room, and went to his own room to pack his things.

*******

Two hours later, the three of them were standing in the ship's hangar, preparing to leave. Their things had been loaded onto the ship, and they were making sure there wasn't anything that they were forgetting.

"Okay, so we've got everything?" Kurai asked. The food stores onboard the ship had been stocked and the massive water tanks were filled.

"I'm good." Taki said. They had all made sure to get everything that they would need; including their armor. There was no telling what they would face once they got to Pluvia, and they wanted to be prepared.

"As am I." Ko said.

"Good; then let's get going. Kantra showed me how to input the coordinates of where we want to go. Elder Yeyinde even told the guys who brought the ship to me to make the whole system human-friendly. It's in English and it uses our mathematics and what not, so I'll be able to figure this thing out." Kurai said.

"Good; then let's go. I want to see your granddad again, as well as Shisome and Makoto. Oh! I'll bet that Shisome's got some kids now! I can't wait to meet 'em!" Taki said excitedly.

"Going into a hive of kiande amedha? What fresh hell is this?" Ko muttered, shaking his head and walking up the ramp.

Taki began to follow Ko, but not before Kurai grabbed his shoulder.

"What is it, Kurai?" he asked, turning to his friend.

"I…I think I've figured out a name for the ship…" she said quietly.

"Really? What is it?" Taki asked, the excitement showing in his eyes.

"I think I'll call it…_The Unrelenting_. I'll call it that because, no mater what, I'll never give up on the people who need me. The ones who are threatening my friends will soon learn that there is nowhere that they can ever hide from me. I'll keep coming, I'll keep fighting…no matter what."

"_The Unrelenting_…That's good… Scary, but good…" Taki said.

Kurai and Taki then turned and walked up the ramp. They went to the cockpit, where Kurai went through the procedure to get the ship started, and used the ship's control panel to open the hangar doors, leading to the vastness of space.

"We ready?" Kurai asked, turning to her friends.

"Ready!"They both said together.

"Then let's go see our friends!" Kurai said, then enabled the ship to lift off, then took off out into space.

_Meanwhile…_

"Hurry up, you fool! They're leaving; we'll never catch up to them at this rate!"Aru hissed to the other male, who was piloting the ship.

"I-I'm so sorry, Aru! But we can't take off directly after them; they'll notice us! I have to wait and let them get ahead a bit, then I'll follow with my cloaking on. They'll never notice us, unless they have the instruments onboard to detect the cloak's particular frequency." The other male, whose name was Oriki, said nervously.

"Which they do not, yes?" Aru said, glaring at the other male, who was a plain brown with black spots.

"N-no…this particular cloaking device is…well…illegal. It's normally only used by…B-Bad Bloods…"

"Yes; and as such, I had to go through a great deal of trouble to get my hands on it. But, to catch Bad Bloods, you must resort to thinking of them, yes?"

"I…I suppose…so… But, whoever said that these Oomans were Bad Bloods? It was my understanding that they were quite honored; especially after that trophy that the female-" he began, but was stopped by a snarl from Aru.

"THE FEMALE AND HER FRIEND ARE A DISGRACE TO THIS CLAN! AND THE ONE WHO BROUGHT THEM HERE, KO, IS A TRAITOR!" Aru roared, then regained his composure.

"This clan is one of the most honorable in the Yautja world. We've existed without Oomans within our ranks since our beginning, and I see no reason to break that record. Oomans are prey–intelligent prey, I'll admit–but prey nonetheless. I'll find out what the Oomans and traitor are up to, then I'll drag them back and expose them for what they are." Aru growled.

"But, I thought that Elder Yeyinde and Kantra made it clear that the Oomans weren't to be followed?" Oriki said, sounding unsure.

"As far as I am concerned, Elder Yeyinde, Kantra, Ne'Renh…all of those onboard this ship who aided the Oomans are traitors. When I'm finished with these, I'll begin to deal with them." the other hunter said darkly.

Oriki was quiet; he hated it when Aru got like this.

"Well then; get going, you idiot! We've waited long enough. Turn on the cloak and let's get going. I'm anxious to find out where those three are going in such a hurry…"

Oriki obeyed, and soon the two of them were on the trail of the Oomans' ship.

_"Soon…I'll find out what you're up to…"_ Aru thought, as they continued along…

The End


End file.
